Abandonment
by Kylie Anderson
Summary: The team is called out on a case and Reid goes missing. He is tortured physically and mentally. Will he be able to survive the sick game of the Unsub? Will the team find him? Each twist and turn brings the team closer...yet so far away...
1. Chapter 1

Abandonment

Chapter 1

"Life, misfortunes, isolation, abandonment, poverty, are battlefields which have their heroes; obscure heroes, sometimes greater than the illustrious heroes." -Victor Hugo 

_Quantico, Virginia _

Special Agent Derek Morgan walked down a hallway in the FBI building before stopping in front of two glass doors. He opened them and entered the BAU bullpen. With him, he carried several files. Special Agent Emily Prentiss noticed the files. "What are those?" Emily asked nodding towards the files.

Morgan gave her a sheepish smile. "Uh well…Hotch wanted me to fill out some paperwork on the last case. He said he wanted the files by Monday." Morgan replied.

Emily looked down at her desk, where a large calendar was. "But it's Wednesday," Emily stated confused.

Rushing forward, Morgan's smile widened. "Exactly! I've got to give these to him!" Morgan said continuing towards Supervisory Special Agent Aaron Hotchner's office.

Dr. Spencer Reid looked up from his desk and saw Morgan hurrying towards Hotch's office. "He's late on his paperwork again?" Reid asked lightly before turning back to his large book he was reading.

"Apparently," Emily said shaking her head. "Talk about procrastination…"

Jennifer Jareau walked up to the two agent's desks. "We've got another case. Meet me in the conference room in ten minutes, okay?" JJ asked rhetorically. "Oh and please tell Hotch, Morgan and Rossi if you see them!"

As quick as JJ had appeared, she disappeared. Both Emily and Reid stood up and began to prepare for the meeting.

((-))

David Rossi entered the conference room to find that Emily, Morgan, Hotch and Reid were already seated. He took a seat at the round table and then waited in silence for JJ to come. Only a short while later, JJ came into the room with a grim look on her face. "Our new case is certainly unique," JJ started. "Four people have been murdered from all around the country."

She moved towards the monitor and clicked the device in her hand which made a grizzly picture appear on the screen. Reid wasn't sure if what he was looking at was human…and if it was, he couldn't tell the gender or any details. All he saw was blood, flesh and bones. "This was Siena Silver. She was eighteen years old and was a freshman at Yale." JJ said quietly. "Five months ago, she was reported missing. The local police believed that she had just buckled into the pressure of an Ivy League college and ran away. But three weeks later they found her body in this state. The ME stated she had bled to death. All of her other injuries occurred before she died."

"She was tortured." Emily stated.

JJ looked very sad at that moment. "The ME suggested that torture began three weeks before her death." JJ said.

David nodded. "She was abducted, tortured and then murdered." David said.

The screen changed to yet another grizzly picture. "This was James Richardson. He was thirty-nine and was a pastor at a local church in Arkansas. Four months ago, he disappeared. Three weeks later, the police found this." JJ said referring to the picture. "Again, the local ME noted signs of torture. Richardson bled to death as well."

JJ clicked the device again and another picture appeared. "Elizabeth Tums, fifty-nine, retired in Utah, disappeared three months ago, found three weeks later…" JJ said before changing the screen again. "John Sunland, twenty-two, worked as a kennel cleaner at an animal shelter in Texas, disappeared two months ago, found three weeks later…"

"Why hasn't the media picked up on this?" Morgan questioned.

Rubbing her head in her head, JJ sighed. "As you know, local police departments don't generally talk to one another or have a nationwide database. No one had any idea this was a serial killer until Detective Julia Summers from Texas did some research. Once she found a pattern, she called in the BAU for our assistance." JJ answered.

The team sat in silence for a minute. They just needed to take things in for a bit. It was going to be one crazy case.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

_Sunny, Texas _

Once the plane landed, the team was greeted by local police. They drove the team to the police department. There, they meet a woman, who appeared to be in her early twenties, in one of their conference rooms. "Hi, my name is Detective Julia Summers." The woman greeted warmly.

Hotch couldn't help but notice how young the Detective was. "SSA Aaron Hotchner," Hotch said shaking her hand firmly. "SA Derek Morgan, SA Emily Prentiss, SA David Rossi, SA Jennifer Jareau and Dr. Spencer Reid."

Julia looked at Reid for a moment. "Doctor?" Julia questioned. "Quite an accomplishment for someone so young…"

Reid gave a shy little smile. "Detective…that's also quite an accomplishment for someone so young as well…" Reid countered.

"Well, it helps when you graduate high school early." Julia said shrugging. "And by the looks of it, I'm guessing you graduated high school early as well. Child genius? Stuffed in lockers?"

No one on the team had ever seen Reid light up like he did at that moment. "Yes!" Reid said with a grin. "Pleasure to meet you."

Julia was grinning as well. Morgan couldn't help but smirk at them. Who knew that there was another Reid out there? "Detective, would you…" Hotch began, but was cut off by the entrance of another man.

The man was tall and aged. He seemed to hold a face of authority. "Thank you Julia for your assistance on this case. I will take it from here." He said coldly.

"Excuse me?" Julia questioned. "Sir, I've had this case from the beginning. With all due respect, I believe I know this case sufficiently…"

He looked at her like she was an annoying child. "Please be quiet Julia. I am going to discuss the case with the agents." He said cutting her off.

That was definitely not going to stop Julia. "Oh the agents that you didn't want to call in? What was it you said to me? Oh yeah, 'Julia, you're being silly. There isn't a serial killer loose. You don't know anything…you're just a kid.'." Julia said folding her arms in front of her. "You constantly look down on me because of my age!"

This angered the man. "That is enough Julia! You have a week's suspension, no pay!" He shouted firmly.

"Well, I refuse to do that sir." Julia said quietly. "I believe you are overreacting. You seem so much more irritable lately sir and I think I know why. You used to always have a picture of your wife out and three days ago, it was not in your office. A large envelope was on your desk with the name of a local attorney stamped on it. The size and approximant weight of it tells me that they are divorce papers. While I understand you are upset over your wife leaving you, I ask that you not take it out on me!"

The room went completely silent. The man looked slightly surprised at Julia's observation skills, but then remembered that was the reason why he hired her. "You are correct Julia. Uh…forget about the suspension. You are still lead detective." The man said weakly before falling into silence.

Hotch cleared his throat, drawing the attention back to him. "Detective, could you take us to the crime scene?" Hotch questioned.

Julia nodded. "It isn't far from here, but it has been cleaned up." Julia informed them.

"That's fine." Hotch said. "Morgan, Reid, you're with me. We're going to the crime scene. Emily, JJ and David, look for a link in-between the victims."

A/N- Sunny, Texas is just a random small-town that I made up. It is a fictional town.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Julia was driving them to the crime scene with Reid sitting in the passenger seat. "That was nicely handled back there." Reid stated. "Have you taken a behavioral science class before?"

A chuckle came from Julia. "Nah, but I did read several books. And I've always been pretty observant." Julia said.

"Who was that?" Reid asked curiously.

"My boss, Peter Smithson. He's generally a nice boss. But he always underestimates me! I'm always stuck with the silly jobs like paperwork. He knows I'm smart, but it's like he only sees my brain and doesn't see me as a person. Of course, most people are like that." Julia said with a small smile. "However, I kinda understand them. They see us as kids and they feel the need to protect us."

All the while, Hotch and Morgan sat silently in the backseat. Were they underestimating Reid? Did all they see were his intelligence? While Hotch and Morgan were wondering this, the SUV came to a halt. "Here we are." Julia stated. "The park where John Sunland's body was found."

Getting out of the vehicle, Julia led them down a narrow, winding path. She stopped after a while a pointed to a spot off the trail where there were broken branches. "John Sunland was found here by a hiker." Julia stated.

"It's secluded." Morgan noted.

Hotch turned his head. "Hmm…was there much blood found here?" Hotch questioned.

"No, the forensic team thinks he was killed somewhere else." Julia said softly.

It became quiet as the three agents looked around the scene, taking everything in. Julia, in turn, watched the agents. She seemed to love watching how they looked at the physical evidence and were able to draw conclusions about the killer's mental state.

((-))

Emily flipped through the file and sighed. "I can't find any connection between the victims!" Emily said frustrated.

JJ looked over at her sympathetically. "I know. These people are different genders, different ages and live in different cities." JJ replied.

At that time, David entered with three cups of coffee. He handed one to each of the girls and kept one for himself. "It could be that there is not a connection…" David began. "However, I don't think that is the case. He tortures them in such a manner that makes me believe there is a commonality."

"And what would you suggest that is?" Emily asked in a rather bitter tone.

That tone surprised not only David, but JJ as well. She had never heard Emily speak in such a disrespectful tone. "I am unsure of what it is, but if we keep looking, we may find it." David answered coolly.

((-))

Morgan, Hotch and Reid met up with Emily, JJ and David to discuss what they had learned from the crime scene. Emily explained that even though they worked all day, they still had not found a connection between the victims.

Seeing that his team was tired and considering how long of a day it was, Hotch suggested that they take a break and grab dinner. As they were leaving, Julia walked up to Reid in a shy manner. "Hey, would you like to get dinner with me?" Julia questioned quickly. "I know a great place not far from here and it would be purely professional."

Overhearing them, Morgan looked over at Reid and grinned. "Go get 'em tiger!" Morgan said with wide smile.

Reid gave him the harshest look he could manage. Then, he turned to Julia. "I'd like that." Reid said and left without taking another look at the team.

((-))

Reid was fascinated by Julia as he ate the Mexican food. She was so much like him. "So, where did you go to school?" Reid asked taking a bite of his taco.

Julia smiled as she sipped her coke. "Well, as you can tell, I don't have a Texas accent. I was born in New York City and went to high school there. Being a genius there is like murder!" Julia answered.

He could relate to that. "Las Vegas," Reid said shaking his head.

Smiling, Julia nodded. "Ah yes, that's a tough place too…" Julia said softly.

After taking a long drink of water, Reid felt odd. He was guessing that it was the taco that made him feel ill, but as he began to feel light-headed, he suspected something else. "Are you okay?" Julia asked noting how pale he had become.

Nodding, Reid began to stand. "I need a bit of air, that's it." Reid said, slowly walking to the door.

In the parking lot, Reid's steps began to slow and then stopped all together. He felt weak and just wanted to fall to the ground. And fall to the ground he did. Julia was by his side in an instant. "You…you…" Reid muttered. "Drugged my drink…"

A chuckle came from Julia. "You're a genius, but I guess you weren't smart enough to figure that out ten minutes earlier…" Julia whispered.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

After eating a burger at a local fast food restaurant with the rest of the team, Morgan entered the motel room where he and Reid were sharing a room. Strangely, he found it empty. He looked at the clock and saw that it was past ten o'clock. "Must have been one interesting dinner," Morgan muttered. "But since he's not here, I'll get first choice of the bed this time!"

Morgan stayed up reading for a while and when he looked up at the clock again, it was past twelve. Although Morgan didn't stalk Reid, he was guessing that Reid never stayed out this late…no matter who it was with. He quickly left the room before knocking on the room where Hotch and Rossi were staying.

Hotch answered the door in two seconds flat. "Morgan," Hotch stated with surprise. "Are you okay?"

The late night call was probably enough to startle anyone. "You know how Reid and I are sharing a room…" Morgan began slowly.

David came up behind Hotch with a smile. "What? Is he snoring?" David questioned.

A grim look came on Morgan's face. "I wish he was, but I got back at ten and he hasn't been in the room since." Morgan explained. "I know he had a date with Julia and if it were any other guy, I wouldn't be worried. But this is Reid! He won't be out so late."

The grimness seemed to spread to Hotch instantly. He wasn't sure what to do. "Have you called his cell phone?" Hotch asked in a calm voice.

Morgan almost kicked himself for being so stupid. In his panic, it never crossed his mind to call the kid's cell phone! "No," Morgan admitted before taking out his cell phone.

He dialed the number and waited before hanging up. "Straight to voicemail," Morgan reported.

"Could he be possibly staying at the lady's house?" David questioned.

Hotch and Morgan shot him an odd look. "The only thing Reid knows about sex is what he's read in a book." Hotch replied. "However, just to be sure, we should get Julia's number and call her."

"Do you want me to wake up the girls?" Morgan asked.

Shaking his head, Hotch sighed. "No. If this is a false alarm, there's no need to worry them." Hotch answered.

Morgan began to leave to find Julia's number to call, but Hotch stopped him. "Morgan!" Hotch said sharply.

"Yeah?" Morgan asked.

Looking as calm as he could, Hotch stared directly into Morgan's eyes. "Hurry." Hotch said.

((-))

Calling Julia several times, took Morgan only five minutes. He returned to Hotch and Rossi's room. "No answer?" Hotch questioned.

Morgan shook his head. "No," Morgan replied.

Although Hotch knew that this was not good from the very beginning, he hated Morgan confirming it. "Okay, wake Prentiss and JJ. Tell them what happened and tell them to get ready to go to the police department." Hotch ordered.

((-))

Emily rose from her bed at one o'clock in the morning when she heard knocking on the door. JJ was sleeping in the bed nearest the window and was snoring away. Emily looked through the peep hole and saw Morgan. She quickly opened the door. "What happened?" Emily asked swiftly.

Morgan quietly explained. Emily listened and nodded. "Okay, I'll tell JJ and we'll be ready in twenty minutes." Emily said when Morgan was done.

"Make it ten," Morgan said before leaving.

After he was gone, Emily rushed over to JJ. She shook the sleeping woman. "JJ, wake up." Emily said softly. "Wake up,"

JJ finally woke up. "What?" JJ asked suddenly alert once she realized the time.

"Reid's missing." Emily said gently.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Reid awoke in an empty basement tied to a chair. He first thought it was another nightmare, like the ones he had been having since Tobias kidnapped him. But then he remembered. He remembered that it was not a nightmare. It was very real.

After he remembered it was real, he began to panic. He couldn't deal with another thing like Tobias. He felt his heart racing and tears coming to his face. He couldn't handle it. He needed to get out right then. After that he became terrified. He was so frightened of what would happen…

Taking a deep breath, Reid knew he needed to control his emotions. He was overreacting. He needed to relax or else he was as good as dead. Just as he finally calmed down, the door slammed open and his fears quickly came back…

((-))

The police station was almost empty except for a few police officers. A woman police officer rushed up to Hotch as soon as they walked in. "My boss, Peter Smithson is Missing In Action, Julia Summers is MIA as is your agent." The woman reported quickly. "Julia and Agent Reid were at a local Mexican restaurant while Mr. Smithson was in his office, but then he disappeared."

Hotch got directions to the Mexican restaurant. "Morgan, Emily go to Julia's house. David and I will go to the restaurant. JJ, keep trying to call Peter Smithson." Hotch ordered.

"Smithson is the one who Julia confronted, isn't he?" JJ asked.

A quick nod from David was all JJ got.

((-))

At the restaurant, Hotch was surprised that it was still open at one-thirty in the morning. Then again, it also had a bar in it, so… David immediately went to the counter with Hotch following. "Were you working at around seven?" David questioned.

The bartender, a male, nodded. "Yeah. My shift gets done at two." The man said shortly.

"Did you see a skinny boy with a tallish woman?" Hotch asked.

Laughing, the bartender shook his head. "You've described every person in here!" The bartender said. "Give me a few more details…"

"The woman's name is Julia Summers…" David began.

It was a small town, so the bartender knew exactly who that was. "Why didn't you say it was Julia?" The bartender asked. "Yeah, she was in here with a rather nice looking kid. He and her hit it off."

"Did they leave together?" Hotch asked.

The bartender sighed. "Their departure was rather odd. The guy got all pale and sick looking. He said he needed some fresh air and stumbled outside. I've seen a lot of people stumble, but that's when they drink. The guy didn't have anything to drink but water. Julia rushed after him. He fell to the ground and passed out it looked like." The bartender explained. "Julia's a strong girl and she lifted him into her car and took off."

That alone was enough to send Hotch into full-blown worry mode. Had Reid been kidnapped again? "Are you sure he had nothing to drink?" David questioned.

"Yeah. He didn't look old enough to drink, so if he asked, I would have probably said no." The bartender replied.

((-))

Reid saw that it was Julia who had slammed the door. She looked slightly flustered. "Spencer Reid…" Julia said softly. "_Dr._ Spencer Reid…"

_What is she doing?_ Reid wondered as Julia came closer. "What are you doing?" Reid asked trying to figure out her strange behavior.

Julia got so close Reid could smell her rose smelling perfume. Moving in closer, Reid felt her breath as she whispered into his ear. "I'm going to kill you." Julia whispered. "But first you're going to suffer…"

Goosebumps rose over Reid's arms. "And the first thing I'm going to do to make you suffer, is make sure your co-workers suffer too…" Julia said quietly.

She brushed her lips against Reid's cheek and he pulled back. _Was she delusional? What was going through her head?_ Reid questioned silently. "Bring in the camera Peter," Julia said moving away from Reid.

Then, Peter Smithson entered with a digital camera on a tripod. He set that down before getting a small table and a laptop. He hooked the camera to the laptop. The camera faced Reid. "I thought…" Reid began clearly confused.

A red light came on. "You'll have plenty of time to figure it out before we kill you." Julia said quietly. "I promise."


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Morgan and Emily found that Julia's house was empty, as they expected it to be. They returned to the police station where JJ informed them that she still could not get a hold of Peter Smithson.

Shortly after Emily and Morgan's arrival, Hotch and David returned to the station as well. They began to discuss what they had learned when a computer nearby seemed to turn on by itself. On it, an image of Reid bound in a chair.

Soon, all the other computers in the police department followed suit. They turned on and began to play a live-video.

((-))

"I got the idea to use video from the Tobias Hankel case." Julia said from behind the camera. "He may have been a little crazy, but this was a great idea. I mean, not only will I kill you, but your co-workers will have to watch! It's perfect!"

She let out a hysterical laugh. Reid looked at her. Her laughter died. "You may have lived through the Hankel case, but that was only because the stupid guy didn't know how to _really_ torture and kill." Julia said bitterly.

Feeling slightly rebellious, Reid stared her straight in the eye. "No, I lived though that because I had my friends." Reid said coldly.

Julia looked around the room. "But where are your friends now? They're not here. You're here…all alone." Julia said coolly. "You're going to die all by yourself. Isn't that how you've always been? Alone? No one ever understood you, did they? Nah, you've been so, so alone all your life."

Now, working in the BAU, Reid knew there were a hundred terms to define what Julia was at the moment like sadistic, manipulative…but Reid thought the best word to describe her at the moment was 'crazy'.

((-))

Everyone stood still and simply watched the video of Reid. It was happening again. All over again! Hotch couldn't keep his calm demeanor any longer. He couldn't help but look shocked and slightly helpless. "What was this Hankel case?" David asked clearly confused.

JJ brushed her hair back, along with a single tear. "Umm…Reid was kidnapped by the unsub, Tobias Hankel." JJ said shortly.

"Hankel had multiple personality disorder and tortured Reid." Morgan added.

David stroked his bread for a short while. "Hmm…and I presume that he had a live-feed camera as well." David said.

Hotch nodded. "Yes," Hotch said. "Reid was able to give us clues that were vital to his rescue."

"May I have that case file?" David asked curiously.

JJ already had her cell phone out. "I'll have Garcia bring it with her when she flies out here." JJ said and began to dial the familiar phone number.

Emily sighed and looked at the video of Reid sitting there again.

((-))

Julia looked at Reid before smiling. "Well, I best leave you to your thoughts." Julia said brightly.

With that, Julia quickly left the room and closed the door behind her. After she was gone, Reid began to jump up and down in the chair in an attempt to loosen the ropes around him. The chair fell sideways on the floor with Reid still in it. "Damn it!" Reid swore panting. "Damn it!"

Looking up at the camera, Reid shook his head. "This is ridiculous!" Reid shouted as loud as he could. "Why am I always the one that gets kidnapped by crazy people? Do I come across as a weak person? Do I look freaking vulnerable?"

At that point Reid stopped. He was loosing it and he was loosing it fast. He knew that he needed to stay calm, but he just couldn't. Taking a deep breath, Reid looked at the camera again. "Sorry," Reid apologized quietly. "I'm just a little…frustrated."

Reid closed his eyes and let a welcoming darkness take him over.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

The sound of an opening door alerted Reid that someone was coming in. He awoke immediately. He saw that it was Julia and Peter. Peter was holding a pot that was steaming. Reid suspected it held boiling water.

Julia walked over to him and began to unbutton his shirt. It didn't take a genius to figure what was going to happen next. "Pour it over his bare skin Peter." Julia ordered.

Peter obeyed and walked over to Reid. He looked into Reid's eyes for a moment and then poured the water on Reid's chest. Taking in a deep breath, Reid refused to make any horrible noise. He didn't want to give Julia the satisfaction.

Smiling, Julia caught on. "Looks like he wants to be a tough man," Julia stated. "Get the next thing Peter,"

((-))

Emily watched as Peter walked off screen. "It looks like we found Peter Smithson." Emily said angrily.

Morgan cocked his head for a moment. "When we first came, it looked like Peter and her had a falling out…" Morgan began.

"That must have been staged." David cut in. "It was a way to show Reid how intelligent she was…It was a way to gain Reid's trust."

Feeling sick, Morgan shook his head. "She acted like she understood him, just to do this to him." Morgan stated.

Noting how ill Morgan looked, David reached out and patted his shoulder. "If Reid survived something like this before, he can do it again." David said in a reassuring tone.

((-))

Peter returned. He came with a pair of pliers. Handing them to Julia, Peter grinned. Julia took the pliers and grabbed Reid's left hand. "Now, I'm not the kind of person that lies." Julia said. "When I say this is going to hurt, it's gonna hurt. So, this is gonna hurt."

Reid felt his pink finger in Julia's cold hands. She put the pliers on his pinky fingernail and pulled. She pulled and pulled until it came off. Reid felt warm blood trickle down his finger. Reid couldn't help the yelp that came out of his mouth.

Julia smiled. "Oh don't worry Dr. Reid! That was only the first one." Julia said softly. "Nine more to go…"

And she continued until she ripped out all of his fingernails on his left hand. It throbbed and bled. She moved on to his right hand and did the same thing. Reid hissed and yelped for the pain was increasing. "Hurts, doesn't it?" Julia questioned.

She was done. His hands were bleeding like there was no tomorrow and the pain was terrible. Reid _refused_ to answer that question. "Oh Petey, he doesn't want to talk!" Julia exclaimed. "Maybe if you get the next thing, Dr. Reid will talk."

((-))

Penelope Garcia arrived only hours after JJ had called her. Garcia didn't even know that jets could go that fast…but at the same time it seemed so slow. She couldn't help but think of the poor kid getting tortured again. Was he just unlucky?

Her thoughts were interrupted by Morgan rushing up to her. "Garcia!" Morgan stated with relief.

Giving him her best smile, Garcia nodded. "It's me sugar!" Garcia said in a false cheery voice.

It was easily noticed by everyone that Garcia's appearance was false. Hotch pointed to a nearby computer. "All of the computer screens are like this," Hotch said quietly.

Puzzled, Garcia looked at him for a moment before turning to the screen. "All of the computers have a live-video of Reid?" Garcia questioned. "All of the computers in the police department?"

David nodded. "Yes," David replied curtly.

Sitting in a chair, Garcia turned to the keyboard. She paused only for a moment when she handed a large file to David. "JJ said that you wanted this file." Garcia said before going back to the computer.

It was silent as Garcia began to type away.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Peter entered the room quicker than when he exited it. There was silence for a minute and Reid began to profile his two captors. Julia was clearly the dominant one while Peter was more submissive. Julia was the planner, the organizer and probably the one with the delusional fantasy. But what that fantasy was, Reid had no idea.

In his hand, Peter held a long rod which was connected to what appeared to be a battery pack. "Do you know what this is?" Julia questioned softly.

To be honest, Reid had no clue. "No," Reid replied.

A small smile appeared on Julia's face. "I know something the genius doesn't know? Hmm…" Julia said quietly. "The metal rod is connected to that battery pack. When it is turned on, the battery pack sends electricity to the metal rod. Electrocution is quite painful, I've heard."

Looking down, Reid realized that his chest was still wet from when Peter had poured the boiling water. He quickly did a few calculations and looked up at Julia. "Look, if you shock me with that, I'll die." Reid said in a croaky voice. "It has too much electricity and if I were dry, it would probably hurt a bit. Since I'm wet, the electrical current will seemingly increase and kill me."

With that argument, Peter was almost ready to put the rod away. "Don't put it away Peter," Julia said noticing his quick movement. "Dr. Reid, I'm smarter than you. I've done these calculations several times. I know you won't die, so don't bother to lie."

_Was this all about intelligence? _Reid wondered shortly. "Yes Julia, you're smarter than me! I know that, you know that! Since I've admitted it, why don't you just let me go?" Reid asked getting desperate.

Julia paid no attention to him. She motioned for Peter to place the rod on Reid's chest. For a moment, Peter wasn't going to do it, but a quick look from Julia made him place it on Reid's chest.

There was a horrible scream. Reid's limbs were flailing everywhere…and then there was stillness and silence. Peter removed the rod. "Damn! Damn! He was right! You killed him Julia! You killed him! You killed him!" Peter said dropped the rod in a panic.

Julia stared blankly at Reid's body. She couldn't believe he was right.

((-))

Everyone in the entire police department froze. Reid was absolutely still and Julia was just staring. A thousand thoughts were probably racing through her head, but the only thing Hotch wanted her to think of was CPR.

Emily held JJ's hand as a silent way of comfort. JJ's hands were shaking. "He'll be okay." Emily said softly to the other agent.

The words were meaningless to JJ at that moment. She had all of her energy focused on Reid, who still had no moved. Morgan watched as Peter ran about the room, screaming in panic. Garcia watched as Julia continued to stand, oblivious to Peter's fright. "Damn it! Do something!" Hotch's booming voice said breaking the silence.

He was not referring to anyone in the room. They were all helpless. No, he was talking to Julia. But Julia could not hear him…so it did not matter.

((-))

Julia was shaking all over. She couldn't quite tell if it was fear or if it was anger. She was angry at him for being right, but very afraid that he was not moving. She slowly bent down. Peter's shouting made no impact on her.

Placing her trembling hand to Reid's neck, Julia was alarmed that she found no pulse. "I killed him." Julia whispered softly. "I killed him before I meant to. I lost control."

"Give him CPR!" Peter said, his voice finally making sense to Julia.

At once, Julia began chest compressions. But something inside of her told her that she started too late…that it was all just too late.

((-))

David could tell from the very beginning that Julia wanted to kill Reid, but he could also tell that she wanted to torture him. She was like a cat, playing with an innocent mouse until she finally killed it. And Julia didn't torture Reid as much as she wanted to, which was why Julia was beginning CPR.

However, while her actions were the same as the Hankel case, her motives were very different. Hankel wanted to save Reid. Julia just wanted to keep Reid alive long enough to put him in pain until she killed him.

After profiling Julia, Rossi began to profile the room. They were all watching intently…looking for any sign of life. But there was none.

((-))

Fluttering eyes told Julia that she had done her job. Reid was slowly coming to consciousness. Immediately, Julia stepped away from him. She allowed him a few seconds to open his eyes completely before kicking him. He let out a tiny sound of pain. "You thought you would be smarter than me, huh?" Julia asked angrily.

Peter now was quite and relieved that Reid was alive. Reid appeared confused for a moment. It was obvious he was in pain, but he struggled to sit up on the cold floor. "No…You're smarter than me. You didn't make any mistakes in your calculations. You simply forgot a factor…the factor was the wetness of my skin." Reid said in a weary voice.

"But you picked up on it…and you had to prove me wrong!" Julia said getting angrier and angrier.

Shaking his head, Reid looked at her with tired eyes. "No. I was just trying to tell you." Reid said softly.

That comment only made Julia madder. She slapped him. "You were trying to prove me wrong!" Julia shouted.

Remembering a lesson he had learned in his youth, Reid decided to try another approach. "You're right. I was trying to prove you wrong. You see, I thought I was smarter than you. I really wanted to prove you wrong." Reid lied. "I wanted to prove I'm smarter than you, but I'm not."

Playing into the person's fantasy…an excellent way to avoid further locker stuffing's. Those words calmed Julia down a bit. She smiled. And then she left. When she and Peter exited the room and closed the door, Reid let out a groan. He put his head against the chair because after being electrocuted, he was thrown onto the floor. He had no energy to get up and sit in the chair, so he decided to rest his head against it.

Reid was tried and in pain, but he knew that there would be more pain to come. He was also very weak. His brush with death left him completely exhausted. So, he closed his eyes and drifted into darkness.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Seeing that Reid was alive, perhaps a little broken, but alive none the less, Hotch put the team back to work. Garcia was trying to find a trace or hack into his computer or anything. But the process was slow and filled with failures. 

Morgan and Emily were attempting to find where Peter and Julia would take someone. In order to do this, they needed to talk to people that Peter and Julia knew. They were hoping to find a place where Peter and Julia liked to go in solitude. JJ was trying to contact the nearest FBI office for more manpower and perhaps another computer technician to assist Garcia to make the process go faster. 

Rossi stood with Hotch alone in the break room. Hotch had entered to get a cup of coffee and Rossi had followed. "You blame yourself." Rossi stated. 

Hotch didn't even look up. "I don't need you to tell me what I'm doing." Hotch stated coldly. 

He poured the hot coffee very slowly into a paper cup. "You do realize that this is not your fault, correct?" Rossi questioned. 

"It is my fault. It's my fault that Reid got kidnapped the first time and started using drugs. It's my fault that Elle got shot, that Gideon left, that my wife left me and took my son…" Hotch said quickly. "I know that it's not logical. But I feel like it is. I feel like I'm a bad leader." 

Rossi looked at Hotch carefully. "You cannot have possibly known that Elle was going to get shot, that Reid was going to get kidnapped, that Gideon was going to leave…Yes, maybe you're wife leaving you was in someway your fault. But it takes two to tango. She was also at some fault too." Rossi said in a calm tone. "These things will happen, but that's just how things go. You're not to blame for it." 

_Well, he's not telling me anything that I don't already know._ Hotch thought. _Gideon would understand precisely what I'm talking about...Maybe he would feel the same way… _

But Hotch knew that Rossi was not Gideon. He simply nodded after listening to Rossi. 

((-)) 

Awake again, but still feeling abnormally weak, Reid struggled to sit up straight. He sighed and wondered why he still felt so tired. He estimated that he slept over ten hours, but of course, without any windows in the basement, Reid began to loose track of time. He read somewhere that even staying in a room without any light/dark indicators that the body would still follow a normal sleep pattern. 

That information was useless. Thoughts ran through his head until he fell asleep again. He awoke with hunger and thirst. It was then that Reid realized what Julia was doing. "Isolation." Reid muttered. "She's isolating me, cutting me off from people. I once read that isolation drives people to madness. And it's starting to work! I'm talking to myself." 

Reid fell silent for a moment. "But I'm not really talking to myself. Someone is watching that live feed and therefore, I'm not talking to myself. I'm talking and someone is listening." Reid said in a logical voice. "However, I'm sure that's what all the criminally insane say when they talk to themselves. They probably think the guards outside their prison walls are listening…or maybe the walls themselves are listening." 

"She's also starving me." Reid continued. "And refusing to give me something to drink. Medical doctors state that a person can survive about three weeks without food. Gandhi survived a three week fast while he was in his seventies. However, water is much more needed. A person can survive about three days without water. It's the rule of three. Three minutes without air, three days without water and three weeks without food will kill you." 

((-)) 

It had been two days since Reid had gone missing. Hotch ordered that everyone (except for Emily- they were watching Reid in shifts) go to the motel and sleep a day ago. While Morgan went to the motel, but found that he could not sleep. He was in his bed, thinking how abnormally quiet it was. Reid should have been in the other bed, snoring his little heart out. 

Morgan's alarm clock went off and he got up, changed his clothes and went back to the police station without having ever closed his eyes. He sat in front of the monitor when he arrived. He immediately noticed that Reid was talking…to himself or perhaps to the camera, but he was all alone. "How long has he been doing that?" Morgan questioned to Emily. 

Yawning, Emily stretched a bit. "Since a half-hour ago." Emily stated. "I never knew half of the stuff that he's talking about." 

It was almost too much for Morgan to take. Reid was like a little brother to him…a sweet little innocent kid. It made Morgan sick just thinking how long Reid had gone without food and water and how he was bleeding… "Did you find out any new locations where Peter and Julia could have taken them?" A voice questioned from behind Morgan and Emily. 

They both turned to see that Hotch was standing there. Emily shook her head. "We talked to Peter's soon-to-be ex-wife. She has no idea where he would go. No one really knows Julia. We've talked to a lot of people, but they really don't know where she would go." Emily reported. 

Garcia entered and sat down at a nearby computer. She didn't say anything to anyone. She simply started to type away. "Richard Flutter is coming in from the nearest FBI office. He's an excellent computer technician." JJ said walking up to Garcia. 

"Oh," Garcia stated shortly without looking up from the computer screen. 

Rossi suddenly appeared in the corner of Morgan's eye. He seemed to pick up on Garcia's odd behavior. "How are you Garcia?" Rossi questioned.

That was enough to cause Garcia to look up at them. "You don't need to profile me." Garcia said sharply. 

Everyone's focus was now on Garcia. Carefully choosing his words, Rossi looked directly at her. "I wasn't profiling…" Rossi began.

Garcia stood up in a flash of anger. "Oh yes you were! I may not be a profiler, but I've been around long enough to know when someone is profiling another person. And right now you're probably thinking that I'm irrational and just speaking out of anger and blah, blah, blah! Well I'll admit that I'm a little angry and a little irritated. Why? Because I'm in the same position I'm in whenever there's a case! I'm completely helpless. I watch people get tortured and killed and lord knows what else on my computer screens, and I can't do a thing about it! When Reid was kidnapped the first time, all I could do was watch him. I watched his pain! And I'm doing it again! I'm not in the field like all of you guys, I can't tell people it's going to be alright." Garcia said quickly. "And don't even think that this sudden outburst has to do with the 'trauma' of my shooting or any of that other psychological crap! I've been feeling this way for a very, very long time."

After Garcia finished, she quickly ran off with tears in her eyes. Morgan's first instinct was to comfort her, but Hotch held him back. "Give her time," Hotch said simply. "I understand what she means when she says she feels helpless." 

Everyone in that room understood what Garcia meant. They were all helpless. 


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Reid realized that he was muttering now. He was rambling on and on about nothing. Perhaps the team thought he was really loosing it now… It was then that he decided to shut up. 

Approximately ten minutes after Reid fell silent, the door opened again. This time it opened gently. Peter entered with a water bottle in his hand. "Julia went to the store." Peter said softly. "She'll be gone a while." 

Peter untied Reid's hands and then handed the water bottle to him. Reid took it, but eyed it cautiously. "Don't worry…it's not poisoned." Peter said noting Reid's caution. 

A small smile appeared on Reid's face before he opened the bottle. "The last time I had a drink of water, it got me here." Reid stated calmly. 

Then, Reid began to drink the water. He was very thirsty and quickly finished it. "What is Julia planning to do?" Reid questioned.

Peter sighed. "She plans to torture you and then kill you." Peter said looking Reid directly in the eye. 

Those words chilled Reid, even though he already knew she was going to kill him. "How did you get involved in this?" Reid questioned. 

Rubbing his eyes, Peter shook his head. "I don't know. My wife and I were so happy. Susan loved me dearly and I loved her that much as well. We were married for three years and were planning to start a family." Peter said in a pleasant tone, but the tone quickly changed. "Then, Julia started working at the office. She was pretty and smart and…I…I started seeing her. God, I shouldn't have! But I loved her so much and she had me doing things that I didn't want to do…" 

"She played you." Reid said softly. "Like she did with me," 

Shrugging, Peter looked sad. "I suppose she did." Peter said quietly. 

The profiler of Reid was kicking in more and more. His social awkwardness had faded when he saw a way out of the torture. "Why are you doing this?" Reid asked. "If you don't want to do this and you know Julia's making you do it, why don't you stop?" 

A tiny laugh escaped Peter. "Have you seen her? She's crazy! If I leave, she'll hunt me down and kill me. I've seen her kill those other people… She's loony." Peter said. 

"She can't find you if she's behind bars." Reid reasoned. "If you call the police, they'll come here and get Julia. She wouldn't be able to hurt you." 

"I've been a cop for ten years and a supervisor for seven years! I ain't stupid. I know the system is crooked. I know that she could get out…and hunt me down!" Peter said shaking his head. 

Reid realized that he was losing Peter quickly. He had to act fast if he stood a chance to live. "Yeah, you know that system is crooked, but this is a federal case. It's crossed state lines. I'm a federal agent and I can assure you that the FBI won't let Julia get away." Reid said in a completely calm voice. 

That caused Peter to think for a moment. Before Peter could say anything else, the door flung open. Julia entered with wild eyes. She noticed the water bottle in Reid's hand. "You've been giving him water?" Julia demanded angrily. 

Peter was now standing. "This is the first time!" Peter said defensively. 

"I think he needs water, but _you_ give it to _him_ when _I_ say to give it to him!" Julia shouted. 

Julia anger seemed to escalate. She slapped Peter across the face. "Damn it! You listen to me!" Julia yelled. 

Her anger then turned to Reid, who was sitting innocently in the chair. She flew up to him and began to hit him with all of her strength. Her long nails scratched his face, drawing blood. Peter did nothing to help Reid, he just watched. 

Once Julia's anger finally began to dwindle, she backed away from Reid huffing and puffing. She looked at Peter and at Reid. "Don't ever do that again Peter." Julia ordered and left the room. 

Peter looked at Reid. There was remorse in his eyes, but then he too left the room.

((-)) 

Richard Flutter, the computer technician from the local FBI office, arrived a few hours after JJ called him. He immediately sat down with Garcia, who was now calm, and began to try to trace the live feed. He was an average looking male and was rather nice. Quiet, but nice… 

After only a half-hour, Richard perked up at his computer screen. "We have something." Richard said with a small smile. "We found something." 

Garcia grinned as well. She couldn't believe they had found the location! Hotch turned towards them. JJ, Emily, Morgan and Rossi were watching the two computer geeks closely. "What did you find?" Hotch asked barely able to breathe.

"We found the location." Garcia said shortly with a smile. 

((-)) 

Ten minutes later in an old abandoned warehouse, a crew full of FBI agents, the BAU team and SWAT members were all lined up, ready to go inside. Their vests were tightened and their guns were ready. This was the location of the signal that Garcia had finally been able to trace, with the help of Richard Flutter. 

The SWAT team had the warehouse surrounded and burst through the doors. The BAU team had been very quick in following the SWAT team. To their surprise, the large warehouse was completely empty. It was a big open space…with nothing…with no Reid. 

A wave of despair ran through the building. They actually thought that Reid would be here, that they would save him. "Damn it." Morgan swore softly under his breath. "Damn it." 


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Back at the police station, Garcia and JJ awaited the team's call. They were eager to know which hospital Reid was in so they could see him. But instead of a call, Hotch, Emily, Rossi and Morgan entered the police station with dark eyes. "Is he okay?" JJ asked quietly.

The look in Hotch's eye told her everything. "He wasn't there." Hotch said softly.

For a moment, Garcia and JJ appeared not to understand what Hotch was saying. Then it sunk in. "But the router…" Garcia said shaking her head.

"Julia is messing with us." Morgan stated. "She sent us on a wild goose chase."

Anger filled the room along with disbelief. "Have you been watching the video?" Emily asked with her level-headed calmness.

"No, if we were then we would have known that you didn't find Reid." JJ snapped.

Ignoring JJ's comment and turning to a computer, Emily sat down. She rewound the digital file back and began to watch. She immediately saw the conversation between Peter and Reid. A small smile formed on Rossi's lips. "He is smart." Rossi said. "He's attempting to befriend the submissive one…the weak one."

Hotch nodded as he continued to watch. He saw that Julia reentered the room with her wrath. "He would have convinced Peter to let him go if Julia had not entered." Hotch noted.

Seeing that Julia and Peter had left the room, Emily then fast-forwarded the feed until it was live once again.

* * *

Reid sat alone in the room for a while. He listened to the silence and found it rather comforting. In a sudden flash, the light above him went out. It left him in the dark. Completely alone in the dark. He hated the darkness and he was afraid of it ever since he was a kid.

As a grown man, Reid knew that he shouldn't be afraid of the dark, but he was. How Julia knew that he was afraid of the dark, Reid didn't know. What he did know was that this was probably some form of psychological torture…and it was working rather well. Reid was terrified.

When the team saw the light go out, they knew instantly what was happening. Julia was playing on Reid's fears. While this made the entire team slightly angry, Morgan reacted the strongest. Everyone knew that Morgan regarded Reid as his little brother. They knew Morgan felt the need to protect Reid. "That woman!" Morgan growled. "Reid's scared enough as it is and to put him in a situation where he's more frightened! That's just cruel!"

"Morgan, calm down." Hotch demanded.

Shaking his head, Morgan did not want to calm down. He wanted to rip apart Julia with his bare hands. He wanted to make her suffer. "He is scared of the dark. We're always sharing a room at motels and he brings along his own nightlight! That's how scared he is of the dark." Morgan said angrily. "He can't be in the dark alone."

Sighing, Emily looked at Morgan. "Reid's smart. He'll know that he needs to keep his head calm." Emily said.

* * *

"Julia, I'm not afraid of the dark." Reid called out loudly. "Keep me in here as long as you like."

Reid didn't even hear the door open. Perhaps his senses were dulled with the frantic beating of his heart. "Oh you're not?" Julia's sly voice questioned from somewhere in the room.

Hearing her voice and not being able to see her reminded Reid why he was so darn scared of the dark. It was the absence of light. "No, I'm not." Reid replied with a level voice.

A cool piece of metal touched his throat. He knew what it was. "Really? How about now?" Julia asked. "Now that there's a very sharp knife to your throat, are you scared of the dark?"

It wasn't like a person of Julia's mental state to kill a person by cutting their throat. Julia would want them to suffer. "No." Reid answered. "I'm not scared of the dark."

Taking that chance that Julia would not kill him by cutting his throat was risky, but Reid learned to profile people's behaviors quickly and accurately. He just never thought he would need to use that skill to save his own life in the darkness. His strategy seemed to work because Julia lifted the knife from his throat. "Hmm…" Julia said slowly. "I suppose it was a bit silly of me to believe that a grown man would be afraid of the dark. Only a coward would be afraid of the dark."

Thinking quickly, Reid seemed to realize something. Julia had turned on the light and was beginning to leave. "Was that something your father used to say to you late at night?" Reid asked suddenly. "Did you wet the bed because you were afraid of the dark? Or what your father would do to you?"

Lightening flashed in Julia's eyes with anger. She raced towards him with the knife. She quickly slashed his right upper arm. It was shallow and only a small amount of blood was drawn. "Don't profile me!" Julia shouted. "Don't talk to me about my father!"

Empathy…Didn't Gideon say something about empathy being the difference between them and killers? "I can't imagine what that would be like." Reid said softly. "Did it happen often?"

Julia looked at him, something seemed to soften inside of her a bit. "Every night." Julia whispered. "My mother knew. She heard me. And she didn't do anything!"

"What happened to your parents?" Reid questioned.

It seemed like Julia was becoming more and more human. "Once I got older, my father didn't…he didn't like me any more. He got angry and drank more. One night, he killed my mother. He shot me in the gut and then killed himself. I was bleeding out…dying. But somehow I lived." Julia said quietly. "I went on to high school and college. I was always very intelligent."

"You didn't have any place to turn but to books. You felt safe in your own mind because the world around you wasn't safe." Reid said. "I understand that."

A smile appeared on Julia's face. "I know you do. I went to college in Las Vegas…You were in one of my classes. I was to be getting honors in that class, but you took it. You took my slot from me. A wimpy little kid took my chance at getting honors…I hated you and I vowed that I would get you. I followed you and when you joined the FBI, I knew what I had to do. I joined as a police officer and moved up to detective here in Texas. I killed a bunch of people and then pretended to find the pattern. I called in the BAU just so I could gain your trust." Julia explained. "I needed your trust so I could take you. So I could kill you for what you did to me."

That was her reason. Reid couldn't believe it. It was so irrational. He had no part in being chosen for honors except for his grades. "Julia, you would have done well even if you didn't get honors." Reid said softly. "You didn't need to do all of this."

"No. I had to do it. I have to make you understand that you ruined my life." Julia said quickly. "I was supposed to start over. Everything that happened to me was supposed to go away and I was going to have a good life. And you ruined it!"

Sighing, Reid looked right into her eyes. "I wanted to start over too. I wanted to forget about the bad things that happened to me and I did. I left my past behind and I went on with the future." Reid said. "I accomplished that without killing anyone."

"We're no different. You're the same as me." Julia said slowly.

"You're wrong." Reid said with a slight feeling of bravery. "We are nothing alike."


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Hearing Reid say those words, Hotch could easily see why he was so proud of Reid. It took a lot of nerve for Reid to say that and to be quite honest, Hotch never knew that Reid had guts like that. He always regarded Reid as a kid, like everyone else had. Thinking about it, Hotch realized that Gideon was probably the only one who saw Reid as something else besides a genius.

"He's breaking her emotional defenses." Rossi said slightly impressed. "She told him about her past. He's making progress."

Garcia looked at the computer screen watching Reid for the longest time. "He's very brave." Garcia said shortly. "I don't think I would be able to keep my calm like that."

Emily then looked over at Garcia. "I don't think any of us could." Emily admitted.

* * *

Julia just chuckled at Reid's last comment. She left the room and returned ten minutes later with a large metal basin. Peter was assisting her in carrying it as it was the size of a bath tub. In it was water along with many ice cubes. Peter held a gun in his hand. "Undress," Julia ordered.

Looking at the webcam, Reid knew that he had little dignity left. His co-workers, his friends, had seen him beaten up and hanging on for dear life. But he was still going to protect what little dignity he had left. "No." Reid said firmly.

"No?" Julia mocked. "Are you afraid of what your co-workers might see? Are you afraid that they'll see your scrawny body? Are you afraid they will finally see that the great Dr. Reid has no muscle?"

"They already know that." Reid said.

Julia glanced up and down Reid's dressed body. "Well, if they already know that, then what are you afraid of? Why won't you undress?" Julia asked tauntingly.

"I won't undress." Reid repeated.

Puckering her lips together, Julia made an odd ticking sound which was reminiscent of a mother hen. "Tisk, tisk…You don't want to play along?" Julia questioned. "You don't want to play nice with others? Cooperate?"

If Reid's hands weren't so tightly bound, he would consider punching Julia in the face. He was just plain angry. His mother always told him never to hit a girl, but Reid had to think that his mother would forgive him just this once. "Hey, I've got news for you. I'm not some skinny kid you can just push around." Reid said loosing his patience. "Do I look just so weak? Am I sending vibes to you creeps that say 'hey, sickos, here I am! Come kidnap me!'? Am I?"

* * *

Hotch had never heard Reid talk like that before. It was definitely out of character. His voice was clearly angry and had taken on a tone that was harsh. His choice in words was also erratic. Words like 'sickos', 'vibes' and 'creeps' were just not words that Reid used. Reid's autistic like behaviors seemed to fade away instantly.

Since Hotch had worked for the BAU for quite some time, he knew that he was just trying to convince himself that the situation wasn't that bad. By assessing that Reid was simply "out of character" he was trying to down play the whole thing. The truth was, Reid was moving out of his usual behavior pattern into something completely foreign and unpredictable.

The others knew this as well. They looked at each other and then looked back at the screen. "I don't like seeing Reid like this." JJ said with a soft and sad voice.

Emily sighed. "None of us do." Emily replied quietly.

* * *

Laughing a cruel laugh, Julia seemed to be enjoying Reid's angry. "Have I upset the poor baby?" Julia continued with a baby-like voice.

_I'm only fueling her madness. I can't let her see my anger like this. Come on, I need to get a grip here. I need to gain some control of the situation. _Reid thought logically. He saw the next step as getting Julia back on track. "I won't undress." Reid repeated.

The laughter went out of Julia's eyes and was replaced with coldness. "Get into the tub." Julia commanded.

_Well, at least I'm still clothed._ Reid thought trying to think positively. Reid decided it would be best to do as Julia ordered. He stepped over the side of the metal tub and lowered himself into the freezing water. And it was _freezing_. His breath was sucked away as soon as his body hit the water.

Immediately, he began to shiver. His first reaction would have been to jump out of it, but with Peter standing by with a gun in his hand, Reid thought it would be best to stay in.

So, he laid in the water. Ice cubes floated around him. His skin began to take on a purplish look. He shivered and shivered. For some reason, his mind started to slow a bit. His breathing became less and less. Hypothermia was setting in while Julia was watching.

After the longest time, Julia looked at him with icy eyes. "Get out." Julia said sharply.

Happy to comply, Reid quickly stood up and hopped out of the tub. The air hit him and it seemed just as cold as the tub. So he stood in the middle of the room with bound hands shivering. Reid wondered how long he had been in the tub because he lost track of time. Looking back in the tub, Reid could see that the once clear water now contained a great deal of red. It was his blood.

"Are you cold?" Julia asked.

It was a simple question, but Reid didn't know how to respond. Should he tell her that he is cold and give her what she wants? Or should he lie? "Y…y…yes." Reid said shivering.

A smile appeared on Julia's face. "Too bad." Julia said shortly. "Peter, assist me in carrying this tub back out."

Peter put the gun in a holster and then helped Julia carry the large metal tub out of the basement. The door shut and Reid was alone once again…and was also soaking wet.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Reid knew all about the risks of being cold and wet. He knew that people often died. Silently, he thanked the Discovery Channel. He saw on there once that if you were alone in the wilderness and you were soaking wet and freezing, the best thing to do is take your clothes off and get dry.

Now, Reid had no choice. He was going to have to undress in front of the webcam. His dignity would be gone, but at the moment, all Reid could think about was his life. Slowly and with great difficulty, Reid began to peel off his clothes.

It was very, very hard because his hands were still bound. Yet, Reid managed to do it. He stood in the cold basement with nothing on. He shook his hair and body, hoping to dry it a bit. There was nothing he could do to speed up the drying of his clothes. In fact, Reid suspected that they would probably never dry.

So, Reid figured that he would be found dead of hypothermia naked in the cold basement. Just as he was thinking this, Peter entered the room. He came with a pair of navy blue sweatpants and a navy blue sweatshirt. He also had a pair of dry underwear and socks. "Here," Peter said quietly. "It's dry and it should be warm. They'll probably be a bit big for you."

Reid took them, but then realized it would be impossible to get the sweatshirt on. "Could you untie me so I can put it on?" Reid questioned.

Peter immediately untied Reid. With that, Reid was able to put the sweatshirt on along with the other clothes easily. "Thank you." Reid said softly.

Nodding, Peter retied Reid's hands. "Are you hungry?" Peter asked.

More than anything, Reid knew he needed food. The last time he had eaten was when Julia first kidnapped him. That was days ago. His stomach was gnawing and growling. "Yes." Reid answered. "I haven't eaten since I've been kidnapped."

From his pocket, Peter pulled out a small sandwich. Reid took it and ate it greedily. He knew that it contained peanut butter and jelly, but that did not matter to Reid. What mattered was that it was food. "Slow down." Peter advised. "You could get sick."

The sandwich was gone only minutes later. Peter picked up Reid's wet clothes and shoes. "Thank you." Reid said before Peter walked to the door.

With a sad look, Peter sighed. "Don't thank me." Peter said.

* * *

Rossi looked at the screen. "Peter has given Reid water, food, dry clothes…He feels sorry for Reid." Rossi determined. "Perhaps he feels they are similar in the sense that Julia 'played them' for her benefits."

"Regardless of his reasoning, it's comforting to know that Reid has someone who is willing to help him survive." Emily said with a positive view.

Hotch nodded in agreement. "Reid will be able to use Peter as a tool." Hotch said shortly.

* * *

With his stomach fuller than it had been and his body dry (except for his partially damp hair), Reid found himself feeling more sleepy. Exhaustion was now catching up with him. His hands still bound, Reid slumped in the hard chair. He closed his eyes and dreams took over.

It was blissful at first. He dreamed of Lila, the actress he had helped protect. They were in the pool talking about Einstein's famous equation. But all of a sudden, Lila disappeared. Reid called out in the cold pool, but she did not answer. She did not come back. She abandoned him.

Then, even more strangely, Hotch was in the pool with him. He demanded to know why Reid failed his firearms qualification and was still carrying a gun. Reid tried to explain that he, Hotch, said it was okay for him to carry a gun after the case in the hospital. Shaking his head, Hotch looked disappointed and, like Lila, suddenly disappeared.

Morgan came and went. As did JJ, Rossi, Prentiss and Garcia. All of them entered the pool, talked for a short while and then abandoned him. In the end, he was all alone. The water was clear and cold. He was treading water in the middle of the pool by himself.

* * *

Richard Flutter, the computer tech from the local FBI office, shook his head in frustration. He didn't know the Reid kid personally, but he felt like he did. Watching the kid for hours and hours, Richard felt slight despair because Reid was one of their own. Garcia was restless and bitter.

They tried everything they knew. With both computer experts there, the BAU thought they would find Reid soon. However, that was not the case. Running various software and algorithms, the two computer techs had no been able to find where the signal was coming from. "There has to be another way." Richard muttered. "Honestly, how can one woman be smarter than two FBI trained computer experts?"

Garcia, who was sitting next to him, sighed. She tapped on a few keys and then she stopped. "Wait!" Garcia said excitedly before standing up. "Richard, you're a genius! Of course!"

With that, Garcia sped from the room as quick as her legs could take her. Richard followed her, in great confusion. The team was standing in the middle of the police station huddled around a desk. Garcia guessed they were attempting to figure out what to do from there. "I have a way to trace the signal." Garcia announced.

Everyone looked at her. "How?" Hotch asked briskly.

"Richard actually made me think of it. How could one person, with very little background in computers, possibly create a signal that two trained FBI computer technicians can't trace?" Garcia asked quickly.

It was silent as Garcia waited for an answer. Impatient, Morgan shrugged. "How?" Morgan asked, repeating what Hotch had already asked.

A short smile came from Garcia. "Not even a guess sugar?" Garcia asked, suddenly acting her old self once again. "Well, that's the whole point. There is no way that this level of skill is self-taught."

A look of realization appeared on Rossi's face. "Someone taught her." Rossi said.

"Bingo." Garcia said. "We find out who taught her and we can find out how to trace the signal."

JJ rubbed her eyes tiredly. "Yes, but how? How are we going to find out who taught her?" JJ asked.

Hotch was already two steps ahead of them. "Garcia, pull up Julia's college transcript." Hotch ordered.

Sitting down at a random computer, Garcia worked her magic and was able to show it to Hotch. "She took a computer class taught by Professor Edmund Duff." Hotch said reading the transcript. "Where is Edmund Duff now?"

Clicking away, pages and pages opened on the computer screen. "He still works as a professor in Las Vegas, but he's currently on vacation in…" Garcia began and then looked a little surprised. "Sunny, Texas."

"He's here?" Emily asked.

Garcia nodded. "Apparently." Garcia said. "He flew in two days ago. His wife's parents live here and have lived here for forty years."

It took Hotch a minute, but he had to do some mental calculations. It seemed like a lifetime since Reid was gone. "Reid has been missing for four days." Hotch said at last. "He wasn't involved in the kidnapping."

"No, but he did teach Julia how to create an untraceable signal." Rossi said firmly.

"Let's go." Hotch said quickly.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

Edmund Duff was eating dinner with his wife. He looked over at his parents-in-law. His wife, Rose, had parents that were stricter than strict. Edmund hated visiting them, but he had to. It's one of those things written in the unofficial book of marriage. Right on page two: You are required to visit wacky, strict, crazy in-laws every three months, at Christmas, Thanksgiving and various other times of the year.

There was a knock on the door and Edmund rushed to get it. Anything to get away from Rose's parents. When he opened it, he found himself looking directly at Supervisory Special Agent Aaron Hotchner. "Can I help you?" Edmund asked.

Rossi and Morgan stood directly behind Hotch. "FBI," Hotch said flashing his badge. "Come with us."

That was a demand, not a request. Again, Edmund was looking for any excuse to get away from the in-laws. "Honey, I'm going with the FBI." Edmund called back before quickly leaving the house. "You have no clue what wonderful timing you have. In-laws."

* * *

The interrogation room in Sunny, Texas was small. It had a lot of dust in it too. It was probably last used ten months ago when a local guy got caught drinking and driving. Petty stuff. "What is this regarding?" Edmund asked looking from Hotch to Rossi to Morgan and back to Hotch.

Morgan put down a picture. "Do you know who she is?" Morgan asked.

There was a flicker of recognition in Edmund's eyes as he looked at Julia's picture. "No." Edmund lied.

Hotch raised his eyebrows. "Really?" Hotch asked curiously before putting a piece of paper in front of him. "She was one of your students."

"I have hundred of students each semester! How am I supposed to remember them all?" Edmund asked getting defensive.

Rossi sighed. "Well, this one you taught a little more than regular computer skills…" Rossi said, implying that Edmund had taught her other computer skills.

Edmund's response was one that no one had expected. "Alright! I had an affair with her!" Edmund admitted. "She was my student and I was married. I was a married, college professor having an affair with a student. I'm sorry. My wife doesn't know…"

Rubbing his forehead, Hotch could honestly care less who Edmund had in his bed. "Look, we're not after you for having an affair. Did you teach her how to create an untraceable signal?" Hotch asked bluntly.

Surprised, Edmund looked directly at him. "Why? What has she done?" Edmund asked.

"So you did." Morgan said.

Sighing, Edmund nodded. "Julia was the worst thing that ever happened to me. She put crazy thoughts in my mind. I was thinking about leaving my wife and marrying her. Luckily, Julia graduated and I regained some common sense. Before she left, she begged me to teach her how to make a signal untraceable." Edmund said quietly. "I showed her one way and she said she already knew how to do it that way. She wanted a way that would be so technologically advanced that not even the world's best would be able to trace it. I showed her. My god…She's the cause of my destruction…"

"You can make things better." Rossi said slowly.

Brushing away a few tears, Edmund looked at them. "How?" Edmund asked.

"Break the untraceable signal and trace it." Hotch said.

* * *

Reid awoke from his weird dreams. The first thing he was aware of was how much pain he was in. Everything hurt and was extremely stiff. He groaned in pain as he attempted to move his leg. "In pain?" A voice asked from afar.

That was the second thing Reid was aware of. Julia had been waiting for him to wake up. As Reid's yawning stopped, he saw that Julia held a baseball bat in one hand. She began to approach him.

The beating started and all Reid could do was to curl up in the ball on the floor. He put his bound hands above his face to protect it and hoped it would be enough. Even though Julia was a female, Reid had to admit that she had some upper body strength. The baseball bat came down upon him over and over again.

Surprisingly, the beating lasted twenty minutes. Reid didn't think that Julia was ever going to stop. He thought that she was going to keep beating him until he died. But she stopped. And he was covered in blood. The loss of blood made him weak and that was not good considering how weak he already was.

"Why does everyone abandon you?" Julia asked softly.

Sometime during the attack, the bat hit Reid's eye. It was now swelling at an alarming rate. Looking at her with his one good eye, Reid shook his head painfully. "They don't abandon me." Reid said and realized that his tongue was bleeding.

_I must have bit it. _Reid thought. "Oh they don't?" Julia questioned. "What about your father? He left you all alone. You had to take care of your crazy mother all by yourself."

"She's not crazy." Reid said fiercely.

Julia smiled. "Yes she is. She's loony. Got nothing up there but crazy thoughts…" Julia said taunting him. "Wacko! Your mother is a wacko! Coo-coo! Psycho!"

At that time, Reid felt like he was going to either pass out on the floor or he was going to throw up. "My father left me." Reid said honestly. "But that's okay. Things worked better when it was my mother and I."

"But you had to take care of her! Make sure she got her medicine. Clean up her messes…" Julia said.

Closing his eyes, Reid took a deep breath. "She read to me all the time. She was the only one to ever understand me." Reid admitted.

Kneeling down beside him, Julia looked at him. "Jason Gideon abandoned you." Julia said. "He wrote you a letter for god's sake! He didn't even have the freaking nerve to tell you in person that he was going to leave you alone. At least your father told you in person…"

"Gideon was a better father to me than my own father." Reid hissed.

Laughing, Julia stood back up again. "Well, you pick great father figures! Mind you, you couldn't pick your own father, but Gideon? You trust them and then they abandon you!" Julia said bitterly. "Let's hope you didn't think of Hotchner as a father figure. If you did, he'll abandon you as well."

Shaking his head slightly, Reid tried to look as brave as possible. "Hotch is a great team leader. He does everything he can for us. He would never, ever leave us." Reid said, meaning every word he said.

"He does? Well, where is he? Do you see Hotch here to save you Dr. Reid?" Julia said, looking around the room as if really trying to find him. "I don't see anyone here but you and me. Everyone abandons you."

Loyalty was something that Reid had never really thought of before, but now he realized that the team was loyal to him. They would find him. "No. Not everyone abandons me." Reid said. "The team is looking for me right now. They would do anything to find me. They would never just leave me."

"The team?" Julia questioned.

A small smile came on Reid's face. It hurt to smile, but Reid couldn't help it. Thinking about the team…about his "family" was something that made Reid have a little more bravery. "Hotch, the fearless leader…Morgan, the brawns and the true friend…Prentiss, the new girl who is calm and level-headed…JJ, pretty and smart…Rossi, an old pro at stuff like this…Garcia, the computer tech that can do anything…" Reid said confidently. "They would never abandon me."

Rolling her eyes, Julia walked around the room for a bit. "Very nice descriptions of your teammates. But it's not how you feel about them, is it? It's how they feel about you. They don't care about you. You're just some kid that gets in the way." Julia said viciously. "Some kid that rambles on and on and on. They're probably sitting at home right now, relieved that they don't have to deal with you."

That stung. That hurt more than all of the wounds on Reid's body. It hurt. "No…" Reid whispered. "No. They're looking for me and they're going to find me. They wouldn't leave me."

"I'm sure you thought that about your father. And about Gideon." Julia said. "But they're gone."

She picked up the baseball bat and was gone out of the door as well.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

Listening to that last conversation between Julia and Reid almost made Hotch cry right then and there. He didn't care who was watching or listening. His heart ached so much for Reid. Julia was right. Reid's father and Gideon had abandoned him, but she was also wrong. The team had not abandoned him.

Hotch was also shaken by the fact that no matter what Julia told him, Reid kept holding on to the belief that his friends were going to find him. Reid was so confident that they would not leave him. Hotch vowed to himself that if he did not find Reid alive, if he did not live up to Reid's strong beliefs, he would quit.

"She's torturing him psychologically!" Morgan shouted as he watched the conversation unfold.

Biting her lip, JJ nodded. "And he's holding out for us." JJ said softly.

"He won't give up." Emily said quietly. "He's going to make it."

Hotch remembered having a conversation with Gideon about not preparing Reid for things like this. Gideon claimed that Reid had learned by watching the examples. Hotch at the time wondered what kind of examples he was learning. Now, it didn't matter. All Hotch cared about was getting Reid back. "Edmund Duff is with Garcia and Richard Flutter?" Rossi questioned.

"Yeah, they're trying to trace the signal." Morgan replied.

"Damn it!" Garcia shouted. "Oh damn it…"

Tears fell from her eyes and rolled down her cheeks. Edmund instructed them on how to take the blocker off. It failed. Richard patted her shoulder. "I'm sorry." Richard said honestly.

Edmund Duff looked worried and surprised. "She used my software to make it nearly untraceable, but she added something else of her own…" Edmund said, pointing to a part of the screen. "See that code? That's not mine."

Richard looked slightly confused. "Then how are we going to take it out?" Richard asked.

"If we can take out my code, that would just leave her part of the code…" Edmund began.

"But if they work dependently…" Garcia warned sniffing.

It became silent in the room. Their last hope was quickly fading.

It had been Garcia's job to break the news to the team. She explained to them what happened. They looked shocked. Their last plan had failed. Julia and Peter won. Reid was going to die. "W…what do we do?" JJ asked shakily.

Everyone looked at Hotch. They looked at their leader for any sign of hope. "We go to the motel to get some sleep." Hotch said looking at the clock.

"We're going to leave him here." Emily stated.

Silence. "We've exhausted all leads. All attempts to find him have failed and there's nothing we can do. You plan to leave him here." Emily explained.

Shaking his head, Hotch looked so lost. "No. I don't know what we're going to do, but we are not going to stop looking for him. We're not going to stop looking for him until we've found him alive, dead or otherwise." Hotch said firmly. "We're not leaving him."

"It is late." Rossi said meekly. "Perhaps we should all get some rest. We can discuss options in the morning as to what we can do next."

* * *

The things Julia said…Reid knew that he shouldn't believe them. She was just trying to upset him, but thinking back…She was right. His father left him. Once his father walked out of that door that day, Reid never heard from him again. Not so much as a letter. And when Gideon left? He left a letter! Never tried to explain it to Reid face to face…

_She's getting inside your head. Don't let her do this to you. _Reid reminded himself. He remembered how firm he had been about his team. His belief in his team seemed so strong when he said it aloud, but he was wondering. Why hadn't they found him yet? What was taking them so long? They knew who kidnapped him. It shouldn't be hard to figure it out from there.

It was a long time, maybe two hours or so, before Julia returned. This time, she held nothing in her hands. _It isn't what people do to your body that is torture. It is what they do to your mind._ Reid thought. "Have you been thinking Dr. Reid?" Julia asked quietly.

"Yes." Reid replied shortly.

A smile crossed her face. "What have you been thinking about?" Julia questioned.

_I'm tired. Why doesn't she just stop? She's in control. She's got the power._ Reid wondered. _But she wants to make me suffer… She's sadistic. _"Things," Reid answered bluntly.

"Not in the mood to talk?" Julia asked softly. "Are you finally realizing that it's time to give up?"

Her choice in words was odd. Reid picked that up immediately. "Time to give up?" Reid asked curiously. "What do you mean by that?"

Moving closer to him, Julia held a something very evil in her eyes. "I want you to beg for death." Julia whispered. "You'll be the one to end it."

"Then you won't ever kill me." Reid said coldly. "I won't give in."

Slowly backing away, Julia nodded. "Not yet, but you will." Julia said.

_Is she trying to justify killing me? If she is, that doesn't quite fit in to the rest of the profile I've built… She should have no remorse if she kills me. She shouldn't want to justify killing me._ Reid thought._ Could she have mild multiple personality disorder? No…she doesn't display some of the more classic symptoms. _"Profiling me?" Julia asked once she realized how silent Reid had become.

"No." Reid lied.

Reid was never good at playing poker. Counting cards yes, but… He just couldn't lie very well under stressful circumstances. "You little liar!" Julia shouted. "You lie and lie and lie."

Shaking his head, Reid decided to continue to lie. He didn't want to admit to lying and he thought that continuing the lie would solve things. He thought wrong. "No…I didn't lie…" Reid said softly.

In a flash, Julia's thin fingers were wrapped around Reid's skinny neck. The fingers were strong and Reid couldn't get them off with his hands bound. He started seeing black dots, a sign of oxygen deprivation. He knew what was going to happen. He had read books about it…papers…Now it was happening to him.

Thinking of his team and his mother, Reid pictured their smiling faces…even Hotch was smiling. He wanted their faces to be the last thing he ever saw. Blackness began to cover his mental image and a second later, everything was black.


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

Richard Flutter had been in charge of monitoring the computer for the night. He witnessed Reid being choked. Hotch had requested that Richard alert him should anything change drastically. This was something that Richard would characterize as drastic change. He pulled out his cell phone and dialed Hotch's cell phone.

Hotch's cell phone rang in the darkness of his motel room. He quickly picked it up. "Hotchner," Hotch said in a firm voice, even though he was sleep-deprived. "Okay…Are you sure?…I'll be right over."

He hung up and slid into his normal attire without even turning on the light. "What's wrong?" Rossi's voice asked from the other bed.

_Couldn't the FBI afford to put us all in private motel rooms? _Hotch wondered. There were times when Hotch wanted privacy…and this would be one of those times. He did not want to discuss the phone conversation he had just had. "Nothing," Hotch lied.

Rossi turned on a lamp. "What is it?" Rossi continued. "What happened?"

In the poor lighting, Rossi could see that there was a tear rolling down Hotch's face. "Richard called. He witnessed Julia choking Reid. He fell to the floor and…he isn't moving." Hotch said, loosing the calm voice and replacing it of one of pure grief.

Since Rossi didn't know Reid very well, he wasn't as affected by this news, but he still was affected. He knew how much the team loved Reid. He was a good kid. "Listen, don't tell the others just yet." Hotch ordered.

_Denial. The first stage of grief. _Rossi recognized it immediately. "Do you think there could be some hope?" Rossi asked, concerned about Hotch.

Biting his lip, Hotch looked at Rossi with desperate eyes. "I'm not ready to believe that Reid is dead." Hotch answered.

* * *

Julia looked at what she had done. Reid was motionless on the floor. She had killed him. It was as simple as that. Somehow, she had thought that by killing him she would feel relieved, but she was not. She had felt no better in killing him. "You died all alone Dr. Reid…You foolishly believed that someone would come and save you. I told you that they abandoned you, but you didn't believe me." Julia said kneeling beside his lifeless form. "I hope you rot. I hope you suffer you stupid kid!"

Spitting on him, Julia rose and stormed out of the room.

* * *

Watching the tape, Hotch still couldn't believe what he was seeing. He requested that Richard play it back again. "Sir, you've seen it five times already." Richard said in a quiet voice.

Realizing that Richard was right, Hotch simply nodded. "Okay." Hotch said shortly.

Pulling out his cell phone, Hotch knew that he needed to call the team in. They needed to see it for themselves. Or at least that's part of the reason…Another reason why Hotch wanted them to see the tape was because he knew that he would not be able to tell them without breaking down with tears.

Morgan was the first through the door. Hotch strongly suspected that Morgan broke the speed limit several times. JJ and Emily arrived shortly after. Rossi and Garcia were the last to arrive, but they arrived ten minutes after Hotch called them. That was perhaps the quickest time he has ever assembled the team. _Perhaps they sense that something is wrong…_ Hotch thought.

_How do I tell them that Reid is dead? I…I just can't._ Hotch thought, suddenly beginning to panic. "What is it?" Morgan asked sharply.

Looking down at the floor was safer than staring at their eyes. "I…I'm sorry to tell you this. Richard called me and I saw the tape. Julia…She killed Reid." Hotch said with a shaky voice. "Reid is dead."

A horrible screech came from JJ as she sunk to the floor. Emily hugged her with tears running down her face. Garcia sobbed. Morgan had a terrible look in his eyes. It was a look similar to the one in Chicago…only much worse. Rossi was the only one to remain completely calm. "Can we see it?" Morgan asked suddenly.

Hotch shook his head. He had originally planned on letting them see it, so they could fully come to terms with it, but now he decided against it. He wanted to protect them. "You can't watch your friend die." Hotch said firmly.

"You don't understand." Morgan said with a scratchy throat. "I need to see it."

There was a moment of silence in which JJ's crying had stopped a bit. Garcia continued to sob. "What about Reid's mother?" JJ asked suddenly. "She…she won't understand. Reid writes to her every day. She must know something is wrong and now… He pays for her hospital bills. What's going to happen to her?"

Everyone was looking to Hotch. They needed answers from him. They needed him to be their leader. God, how he hated his job sometimes. "I'll take care of Mrs. Reid." Hotch said quietly.

"I need to see that video." Morgan insisted.

Locking eye to eye, Morgan and Hotch were staring at each other for a while. Finally, Hotch sighed. "Play it Richard," Hotch said while still looking at Morgan.

As it began, JJ quickly stood up and exited the room. "I can't watch." JJ said.

They continued to play the video up until the point where Julia spat on Reid and left the room. It was silent after the video was shut off. "We need to find him." Morgan said softly. "So he can be…buried…"

Tears kept falling down Emily's face. She was always calm, but now…Her heart ached for the poor kid. They should have found him! They should have saved him! But they didn't…

The video was still rolling. It was now live once again and Reid was still motionless. "Oh my josh!" A gasp came from the door.

No one had noticed that JJ had reentered the room. Once they saw what JJ was looking at, everyone suddenly perked up. "His hand!" JJ cried. "His hand is moving!"

* * *

The blackness started to fade, but his throat was so sore. The basement floor was ice cold. _Had it always been this cold?_ Reid wondered. Trying to move his hand a little, Reid found that he was much too tired. "I've been unconscious." Reid said in a dry voice.

Reid couldn't quite believe that he was still alive. He knew that he should be dead. "Help!" Reid called weakly from the door. "Somebody…anybody…"

Tears and emotion overcame him. He began to cry on the floor like a little kid. Self-pity enveloped him. But he didn't care. His emotions were put on overdrive and he was scared and his throat hurt and he was thirsty… The list went on.

* * *

"He was unconscious." Emily said quickly wiping away the tears. "His breathing became so shallow that it appeared as if he were dead."

A breathe of joy swept over the room. Smiles broke out all over…but not on Hotch's face. He knew that if Reid was alive, they had to work fast. "Listen, Julia thinks that Reid is dead." Hotch reminded them. "She and Peter will be leaving."

The realization of what was going to happen hit them like a ton of bricks. "He's going to be trapped there." Rossi said slowly. "Once they leave…"

"No more food. No more water." Emily said.

Hotch looked over at the team. "If any of you are religious, I would suggest that you pray." Hotch said in an extremely serious tone. "We are asking for a miracle."

A/N- Thank you for letting me know that the breaks weren't showing up! I had no idea. I put them in, but I guess that is taking them out for some reason when I upload them. So, I have to manually go in and fix them. I'll go back and do that soon. Thanks once again!

-Kylie Anderson


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

Edmund Duff was called in at two in the morning. He was grumpy and in a foul mood. But Garcia and Richard needed his help to figure out how to trace the signal. This was perhaps their last shot at finding Reid.

Hotch's cell phone rang. When Hotch hung up, he looked slightly better than he did a few minutes previously. "That was the border patrol. They found Julia and Peter were attempting to cross the border with fake ids." Hotch said. "They'll be in an interrogation room in fifteen minutes."

Hope. There it was at last. Hope! "How are we going to approach this interrogation?" Rossi asked.

"Keep them separated." JJ suggested, although that was common procedure anyway.

A small came on Emily's face. "Lean heavily on Peter. Tell him about how he's helped Reid. Make him feel guilty." Emily said. "He's weak and our best shot."

Hotch nodded in agreement. "Rossi and Emily, you'll be interrogating Peter." Hotch assigned. "Morgan and I will interrogate Julia."

"That's a waste of time." JJ stated quickly. "She's not going to say anything."

Morgan shrugged. "It's worth a shot." Morgan said slowly.

At that moment, Morgan was thrilled to be interrogating Julia. Now he finally had the opportunity to rip her eyes out and tear her apart in a painful manner… Hotch seemed to know what Morgan was thinking. "When we talk to her, don't do anything stupid." Hotch whispered so only Morgan could hear.

* * *

Peter Smithson sat in an interrogation room. He was clearly uncomfortable. "Hi Peter, my name is Emily Prentiss. I'm with the FBI." Emily said sitting across from him. "This is David Rossi. We have a few questions for you."

"Look, it wasn't my fault! Julia told me to do it!" Peter said sweating.

_That was easy. The guy talks before we even ask a question. _Emily thought. "We've seen the video. You've been good to Reid and you've been helping him." Emily said calmly. "That goes a long way, but Julia says that it was your idea to take Reid."

Shaking his head, Peter looked ready to cry. "No! It wasn't!" Peter said.

Shrugging, Rossi moved to sit down across from Peter. "We know that, but our bosses aren't too sure. If you tell us where Reid is, they'll understand." Rossi said.

* * *

Julia Summers looked very cold as she sat across from Hotch and Morgan. She had no emotion on her face. "I killed Dr. Reid." Julia confessed without any remorse. "Is there anything else?"

"Yeah, just one thing." Morgan said. "Where is his body?"

Crossing her legs, Julia smiled. "Buried." Julia replied.

"You're lying." Hotch said.

Without looking the least bit fazed, Julia sighed. "Now why would you think that?" Julia asked.

It was Morgan's turn to smile now. "You left the video feed on." Morgan told her.

"Oh did I?" Julia asked without caring for an answer. "Ah well…You'll never find him. Why would you want his body anyway?"

There was a question that neither Morgan nor Hotch were prepared for. A slight lapse in time was all Julia needed. Before Hotch or Morgan could reply, Julia looked horrified. "He's alive? He's alive?" Julia asked angrily. "Oh damn it! He just refuses to die that little piece of dirt!"

"Where is he?" Hotch demanded over Julia's angry shouts.

Julia was now standing up, looking completely hysterical. "He'll suffer! I swear he will burn for what he did to me! He's a lying, filthy piece of garbage!" Julia yelled.

That made Morgan snap. He couldn't take it any longer. He flew up to Julia and slammed her against a wall. "Where is he?" Morgan shouted, spit flying on her due to the fact that they were face to face. "Where is he?"

Julia was pinned up against the wall by Morgan. Terror replaced the anger on her face. "Get your hands off me." Julia said with a great amount of fear and a weak voice. "Please…"

Morgan dropped her and she sank to the floor. Tears came down her face. At first Morgan thought they were tears of remorse, but they were tears of self-pity. Julia was reliving her abusive childhood…and she was also caught.

* * *

"Julia…she'll kill me if I tell you…" Peter said like frightened kid.

Emily was patient and she patted his shoulder. "She's going to be locked away for life. She can't hurt you." Emily said coolly.

Peter still looked unsure. "You brought Reid water, food, dry clothes…You care about him. If he dies…" Rossi said carefully.

"He's already dead." Peter said quietly.

Shaking her head, Emily looked at him. "No, he's not. We still have a live-feed." Emily said gently. "He's alive."

"Don't let him die." Rossi warned. "If he dies, his blood is on your hands…"

Peter shook his head. "I…I…I can't…" Peter muttered.

* * *

"I underestimated the little wimp." Emily growled as she stirred creamer in her coffee.

Rossi nodded. "We all did." Rossi admitted. "Apparently, he's so scared of Julia that he won't tell us because he wants to save his own skin."

"That's only natural, isn't it?" JJ asked, walking in to the break room to get a cup of coffee. "We think about saving our lives first. That's top priority."

* * *

Hotch grabbed Morgan's arm once they were outside the interrogation room. His grip was like a vice and Morgan was not suspecting it. "What the hell was that?" Hotch demanded angrily.

"I couldn't sit there and listen to her talk about Reid like that!" Morgan said with just as much anger.

Slowly, Hotch dropped Morgan's arm. "Look, I want to hurt her too." Hotch said in a calm tone. "But we can't. We can take her to court and see that justice is served."

"That's not enough!" Morgan said still angry. "She deserves to die."

Sighing, Hotch nodded. "And maybe she will…Texas has the death penalty. Right now, all that matters is finding Reid." Hotch said softly.

A/N- I'm going to be gone for a while, so I probably won't be able to update this for a week. Sorry! I promise I'll update as soon as I can, but like I said, it probably won't be for a week. Thanks for your patience.

-Kylie


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

Reid knew that Julia thought he died. He also knew that as soon as he died, Julia would run. That meant that Reid was all alone. He was truly abandoned now. And that panicked him more than anyone could understand. "Help!" Reid's weak voice called.

It was barely above a whisper. In desperation, Reid dragged himself to the door. He attempted to open it, but it was still locked. He pulled himself into a standing position and began to bang against the door. Reid strongly suspected that Morgan could have been able to break the door down in two seconds flat…but he wasn't Morgan.

Tired and broken, Reid sunk to the floor crying yet again. "Help me!" Reid called. "Anybody…please…just…help me…Anyone! Hotch! Hotch! Morgan! Please…Rossi, JJ, Emily! Garcia!"

In one last desperate attempt, Reid sobbed again before calling out one final name. "Gideon! Help me!" Reid shouted with a hoarse voice before falling into darkness again…

* * *

Hearing Reid call out his name made Hotch's heart ache once again. But his heart broke when Reid called out his old mentor's name. Hotch knew that Reid was at the end of his mental line when Reid called out Gideon's name. He knew that Reid was desperate…and he also knew that Reid had lost all hope.

Morgan knew this as well. He watched the screen before sinking down into a chair. "Hotch, what do we do?" Morgan asked like a broken man.

JJ, Emily and Rossi all looked at Morgan. They were wondering the exact same thing. Before Hotch could respond, another voice answered. "You go out there and you get Reid." A cheery voice said from the door. "He's at 123 Sulkin Road. It's an old house."

Garcia stood in the doorway with Richard and Edmund behind her. "Good job Garcia," Hotch said with a light heart.

"Don't thank me…It was a team effort." Garcia said pointing to the men behind her.

One thing stood out in Morgan's mind. He could still remember the abandoned warehouse. Garcia traced the signal there, but nothing was there. No Reid. "Are you sure this time?" Morgan asked.

"Of course I am doll face." Garcia said confidently. "I learned from my pervious mistake."

Seconds later, the entire team was gone. SWAT had already been called as well as paramedics. That left Garcia, Richard and Edmund alone in the police station awaiting news.

* * *

When SWAT broke down the door, Morgan didn't really care about clearing the house. They already had their kidnappers in custody. The stupid FBI protocol required that SWAT clear the house, but Morgan wasn't concerned about FBI protocol. He raced towards the basement with Hotch right behind him.

There was a corridor that led to a single door. Hotch paused when he put his hand on the doorknob. He knew that this was it. If Reid wasn't here, they would probably never find him. Hotch quickly opened it.

Morgan raced in and Hotch was right behind him. Reid was lying on the floor a few feet away from the door. He was covered in blood and bruises. His condition was horrible. Immediately, Hotch and Morgan kneeled beside him. "Reid…" Morgan said frantically looking for a pulse. "Reid, you awake kid?"

"Reid," Hotch said.

With a sigh of relief, Morgan found a pulse. "Reid, come on buddy. Wake up." Morgan said gently. "Wake up."

Reid's eyes began to flutter open. "Morgan?" Reid asked in a hoarse, weak voice. "Hotch?"

Tears came into Hotch's eyes and he was not ashamed to say that he let a single tear roll down his face. "We're here Reid." Hotch said in a calm voice. "The paramedics are on their way."

A small smile appeared on Reid's face. His eyes began to close a bit. "I…I knew you wouldn't abandon me." Reid said shakily.

His eyes closed. Morgan and Hotch were alarmed by this. Morgan was gently shaking Reid. "Reid, don't go to sleep! Don't go to sleep man!" Morgan pleaded.

Emily, Rossi and JJ watched from the doorway. The sight of Reid like that made JJ want to become sick. _How could someone do that to Reid? _JJ wondered. "Reid, stay with us." Hotch ordered. "Hold on."

"I…I'm with you…" Reid's tired voice said scratchily. "So tired though…"

Morgan was not going to let Reid die. "Reid, if you go to sleep, I will make sure you get the bed furthest from the window." Morgan said in a threatening voice.

"None of…that stuff mattered…" Reid said slowly.

Hotch was not liking how Reid sounded. He sounded so defeated. He had given up. "Reid, don't talk like that." Hotch said firmly. "You will make it out of here alive. Don't give up."

With his eyes still closed, Reid sighed a tiny sigh. "I haven't given up…But Hotch…I'm so tired…" Reid said with tears in his eyes. "I'm in so much pain…"

Gently brushing Reid's hair away from his face, Hotch nodded. "I know. You're going to be okay though." Hotch said gently. "Just say with us…"

"Where's that ambulance?" Emily shouted into the hallway.

"They got stuck in traffic." Another voice called back. "They'll be here in three minutes."

Noticing that Reid was drifting off again, Morgan felt alarmed. "Reid, what's your favorite color?" Morgan asked.

Another little smile appeared on Reid's face. "I remember in Quantico…they told us to keep a victim talking…Just ask a question…Anything…They told us…if we were panicked…to ask them…what their favorite color was…" Reid said in a strained voice. "Morgan, I know you're scared…and it's starting to scare me…"

Reid had picked up on Morgan's emotional cues in his voice. Even Hotch had not picked up on how scared Morgan sounded until Reid pointed it out. "I'm sorry kid." Morgan said taking Reid's hand.

"You're…holding…my hand…" Reid said with a little laugh. "I…didn't know…you were that way…"

Letting go, Morgan laughed a bit. "So you do have some humor in you…" Morgan said shaking his head.

Luckily, the paramedics arrived just then. "What took so long?" Hotch demanded standing up.

He was angry…very angry. And everyone knows that when Hotch is angry…it's not pretty. "Sorry sir…" A female paramedic said before kneeling beside Reid. "Traffic,"

A male paramedic followed suit. "Step away from him," The male paramedic ordered to Morgan.

Reluctantly, Morgan moved away from Reid. Morgan and Hotch joined Emily, JJ and Rossi as they stood from afar. They watched as the paramedics stabilized Reid. The paramedics rolled him out of the basement and into an awaiting ambulance. "Anyone to ride with him?" The female asked as she was about to close the door.

The group was standing in the middle of a lawn looking completely confused. In a situation like this, Gideon would have gone with Reid. Gideon would have comforted Reid. But he was gone…So who was going to take his place in taking care of Reid? "You go Hotch." Morgan said firmly. "We'll be right behind the ambulance."

Hotch nodded and climbed into the back of the ambulance.

A/N- Alright, I'm back. Sorry about the long wait! Hope you enjoyed this chapter.


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19

Reid had lost consciousness during the ambulance ride. His heart rate began to decrease and for a moment, Hotch thought that Reid was going to die right then and there. But somehow he managed to come back…

It took them only six minutes to arrive at the hospital. The paramedics wheeled Reid in and Hotch was not allowed to follow. He was forced to go into the waiting room. There, JJ, Emily, Rossi, Morgan and Garcia were already waiting. "How is he?" Garcia asked breathlessly.

_She must have broken the speed limit to get here so fast. _Hotch thought. "He lost consciousness." Hotch said in a tired voice.

"He was missing for eight days." JJ said out of the blue. "He wasn't missing as long the last time. And last time he wasn't tortured like this…"

Emily wanted to tell her it would be fine. Reid would be fine. But something told Emily it would be best to say nothing at all. "He's brave." Morgan said sitting in a hard plastic chair. "He survived all that torture…physical and mental."

"And he never lost hope in us." Emily reminded them kindly. "So let's not lose hope in him."

* * *

Twelve hours later, an older female doctor appeared in the waiting room. She held a clipboard. "Is there a Jason Gideon here?" The female doctor called.

Hotch stood up at once. "No, he died." Hotch lied.

The female doctor sighed. "He has power of attorney over Spencer Reid." The female doctor explained. "He would normally be the one we would inform of new information regarding Spencer Reid's condition."

"If he is not here, then who has power of attorney?" Rossi asked curiously.

"Normally the family, but since Spencer Reid's mother is in a mental health care facility…I suppose he is a ward of the state." The doctor said slowly reading the clipboard. "Ah! He does have a second emergency contact and a second power of attorney in case the first, Jason Gideon, is unable to fulfill his duties…Is there an Aaron Hotchner?"

Hotch nodded. "I'm Aaron Hotchner." Hotch declared.

The doctor smiled a bit. "Come into my office so we can talk privately." The doctor said gently.

It seemed like the hallway that the doctor led Hotch down was dark and narrow…but maybe his mind was playing tricks on him. Opening the door, Hotch quickly read the sign on the outside of it. It held the doctor's name. "My name is Dr. Elisa Smart." The woman said with a gentle smile.

Walking behind her oak desk, Dr. Smart motioned for Hotch to sit in front of the desk in a padded, dark color chair. "How's Reid?" Hotch asked quickly.

Dr. Smart sighed, her smile fading. "Spencer Reid is in a terrible condition Mr. Hotchner. He is perhaps one of the worst cases I've seen in my career of thirty-seven years." Dr. Smart began. "He has been tortured beyond normal human capacity. He has massive internal bleeding. He's been in surgery since his arrival to stop the bleeding."

Alarmed, Hotch looked directly at her. "That was twelve hours ago," Hotch said.

"I know." Dr. Smart said quietly. "He has lost a lot of blood due to this and we've just finished surgery. We managed to stop the bleeding. Also, Spencer Reid has several broken ribs, a fractured femur and a hairline fracture in his collar bone."

Hotch shook his head. Reid was worse than he originally thought. "But he'll be okay, right?" Hotch asked for reassurance.

Pretending not to hear him, Dr. Smart cleared her throat. "One of his eyes is swollen shut, his fingernails were pulled off and his wrists are cut very badly. We suspect that they were cut due to restraints and we bandaged them. However, he is at high risk for infection. He also has many cuts all over his body from what appears to be a knife. He is malnourished and dehydrated. Spencer Reid is also suffering from mild hypothermia, although with the heat he appears to be improving." Dr. Smart said softly. "However, while these injuries sound severe, he would be able to make a full recovery in time."

It didn't take a profiler to catch the wording on Dr. Smart's last comment. "Would?" Hotch questioned raising his eyebrow.

"He sustained several blows to the head. We did a CAT scan and it appears as if there is some brain swelling. I believe this is the reason why Spencer Reid is in a deep coma." Dr. Smart said.

"He's in a coma?" Hotch asked surprised.

Nodding, Dr. Smart glanced down at her clipboard before looking back at Hotch. "I'm going to be quite frank with you Mr. Hotchner, as you have power of attorney, you may soon have to make a decision." Dr. Smart said quietly. "Spencer Reid is on life support currently and he may not breathe without the life support."

Hotch couldn't believe this was happening. He shouldn't have to make a decision like this. "Do you know what Spencer Reid would want done?" Dr. Smart asked gently.

Thinking back, Hotch could not recall a conversation with Reid where he discussed the possibility of being put on life support. "No, but I know someone who does." Hotch said before standing up. "Thank you doctor."

He shook the woman's hand and then quickly left the office feeling sick to his stomach.

* * *

In the waiting room, Morgan jumped up at the sight of Hotch. "How is he?" Morgan asked swiftly.

"Can we see him?" JJ questioned.

Rossi was the only one to notice the sadness in Hotch's eyes. "What happened?" Rossi asked gently.

Sighing, Hotch looked at their faces. Emily, JJ, Garcia and Morgan were all watching him with hope, with fear… Rossi kept a calm face. Hotch guessed it was because he did not know Reid as well as the others. "Reid's on life support." Hotch said in a clipped voice. "As I have power of attorney…"

Before Hotch could finish, Morgan was shaking his head. "No! No, you are not pulling the plug." Morgan said, clearly overcome with emotion.

"You can't do that." Garcia said in a tiny voice.

"It's not about what I want or what you want." Hotch said in a firm tone. "It's about what Reid wants."

Rossi, still calm, nodded. "What are you going to do?" Rossi asked.

Walking outside, Hotch had his cell phone out. "I'm going to find out what Reid wants." Hotch replied.

* * *

"Gideon," A tired voice answered.

Pacing outside the hospital, Hotch sighed. "Jason, it's me." Hotch said shortly.

Gideon noticed something was wrong by the tone of Hotch's voice. "What happened Hotch?" Gideon asked quickly, sounding more awake.

Quickly, Hotch explained what happened to Reid. He told Gideon how Reid was kidnapped and what happened during the time when Julia had time. His voice was breaking with emotion as he told Gideon of Reid's injuries. "He's on life support." Hotch said at last. "You have the power of attorney, but I told the doctor you were dead. I need to know…what…what Reid wanted. You two must have discussed it if you're his…"

"Yes." Gideon said in a calm tone. "We did. Reid told me that all he ever had was his brain. He was never good at athletics or physical things, but he had his mind. And if he couldn't use his mind and if he couldn't think, then he didn't want to be living. He didn't want to live in a mental hospital, drooling in front of a television."

There on the sidewalk, Hotch began to sob. He let out everything he had been holding in for the past eight days. "Hotch…Hotch…" Gideon said in a soothing voice. "You need to be strong for the team. For Reid."

"I don't think I can…" Hotch said in a whisper. "I can't…"

"Hotch, if you cannot do it, I will come down to Texas and do it myself." Gideon said firmly. "This is Reid's decision."

Sighing, Hotch knew that Gideon was right. "I'll wait a day and if there is no change, I'll…" Hotch said before fading into silence.

Gideon sighed as well. "Before you do this, please tell Reid that I am very sorry about leaving him so abruptly and that I never meant to hurt him." Gideon said quietly. "Tell him goodbye."

"You know, I think he already knows that." Hotch said sadly. "He knew that and he never stopped loving you like a father."

Tears were rolling down Gideon's face, but since Hotch could not see him, he did not know. "Thank you." Gideon said softly. "I know that you'll make the correct decision."

"What…what about Reid's mother?" Hotch asked suddenly.

"He's leaving all of his money to his mother to pay for her medical bills." Gideon answered. "If the money runs out, he begged me not to let her go anywhere else. I told him I would pay for her medical bills for as long as she lives if his money runs out."

Smiling for a small second, Hotch sat down on a bench outside. It was so warm and sunny. "You were always good to him." Hotch said quietly.

"So were you," Gideon returned. "Now go with the team. They need you. Be with Reid. He needs you. Call me tomorrow to tell me what happens."

Hotch nodded. "Of course," Hotch said. "Goodbye Jason,"

"Bye," Gideon said before hanging up.


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20

Walking into the waiting room, Hotch knew that he had to tell the team. "Well?" Morgan demanded. "What did Gideon have to say?"

Surprised, Hotch looked at him oddly. "Who said I called Gideon?" Hotch asked.

"Who else would you call?" Morgan returned.

Sighing, Hotch looked at them. "Reid didn't want to live his life in a vegetative state. He didn't want to be hooked up to machines for the rest of his life." Hotch said gently. "Therefore, if Reid does not make any improvement by tomorrow afternoon, it is my decision to take him off life support."

JJ, Emily, Garcia and Rossi all looked completely shocked. In a flash, Morgan somehow managed to pin Hotch against a wall. He looked angry and wild. Hotch knew that Morgan was strong, but he never had any idea until he felt the painful grip of Morgan's large hands. "You can't do that to Reid!" Morgan said sharply.

Instead of looking angry or yelling back, Hotch simply looked at Morgan sadly. "I don't want to. I'm not even sure that I can do it." Hotch admitted. "But this is what Reid wanted."

"No!" Morgan said sharply. "How do you know what Reid wanted? How does Gideon know what Reid wanted?"

Rossi moved in along with Emily. It was clear that their intent was to pry Morgan off of Hotch. Hotch shook his head at them. "I'm fine." He said to them and then to Morgan, "You want to hurt me…go ahead. I've failed this team so many times. I admit that I am not a good leader, but I'm trying to be a good friend to Reid. I'm trying to let him go."

Slowly, Morgan let go of Hotch. "I'm sorry…" Morgan said with tears in his eyes. "He's my friend…"

"I know." Hotch said gently patting Morgan's shoulder. "I know."

* * *

Dr. Smart allowed for the team to stay in Reid's room. They set up a constant watch on him. They often took turns talking to him privately. In that sense, it allowed them to say what they wanted to say to Reid… "That football game we went to was one of the best dates I've ever been on." JJ said quietly. "I just didn't know how to tell you that…"

It was a way for them to prepare themselves for his death. "You'll drive God up the wall…If you believe in God that is." Garcia said with a smile. "I bet you could tell Him the history of everything and every little fact ever known to man…"

It was a way for them to be close to him. "I've always teased you, but I never meant any of it." Morgan admitted. "You've been a good friend and, although I never say it, I like your ramblings. You've always impressed me with how much you know…"

It was a way to tell him goodbye in their own private ways. "I'm sorry we didn't find you sooner. I talked to Gideon and he wanted me to tell you goodbye. He also wanted me to tell you that he loves you like his own son, but you already know that." Hotch said heavily. "Reid, I'm so sorry. Can you forgive me for failing you?"

And it went on and on like so. Each privately taking turns and talking to Reid. The time seemed to go so quickly. None of the team had gotten much sleep. They would occasionally dose off for an hour or so before waking up again. Hotch was in the waiting room when he glanced at his watch. To his surprise, a day had passed.

He rose. The team noticed his action. Morgan was inside Reid's room and that's exactly where Hotch went. The team followed. Hotch stood in the doorway and looked at Morgan. "It's time." Hotch said softly.

Nodding, Morgan stood up, but did not leave Reid's side. "I know." Morgan said shortly.

With that, the team gathered around Reid. JJ held Reid's cold, clammy right hand while Morgan grasped the other. Garcia was pushing Reid's hair out of his face, like a mother would do to her sick child. Rossi and Emily stood at the foot of the bed. They did not know Reid as well as the others and didn't want to intrude.

No one even noticed that Hotch had left, but they did notice when he returned with Dr. Smart. She looked very calm about the entire ordeal. _She probably deals with this a lot. _Hotch profiled. He stood beside Reid and watched his chest go up and down.

Dr. Smart quietly moved over to the ventilator, the machine which assisted Reid in breathing, and pushed a button. It darkened, a sign that it had been shut off. The only things that were still running were the IV and the heart monitor. The team waited for his breath to stop. Hotch kept watching his chest. Up. Down. Up. Down. Up. Down.

There was no change in the heart monitor. Two minutes passed before Dr. Smart smiled. "Spencer Reid is in a mere coma." Dr. Smart said gently. "I suspect that he will make a full recovery, although there is a chance he may never wake up."

Suddenly, JJ's tears stopped falling. "He's going to live?" JJ asked surprised.

"Yes." Dr. Smart said shortly.

The entire team let out a huge sigh of relief. "Why did you put him on life support if he could breath on his own?" Hotch asked.

Looking down, Dr. Smart appeared a bit embarrassed. "To be honest with all of you, this is perhaps the worst patient I have ever seen. My team pointed out to me that he did not stand a good chance of surviving. We decided to put him on life support because his breathing was erratic. We assumed that by taking him off of life support that he would cease to breath. However, it appears that my team and I were wrong." Dr. Smart said.

"But he still might not wake up?" Rossi asked, speaking up at last.

Shrugging, Dr. Smart sighed. "That is a possibility." Dr. Smart admitted.

"Could he hear what we were saying?" Morgan asked curiously.

Before Dr. Smart could answer, another voice answered. "Did you know that about 5-10 of all coma patients are incapable of conscious behavior and thinking?" A weak voice asked.


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter 21

Everyone turned to the hospital bed to find that Reid was lying down, eyes open and he was fully alert. "Reid!" They exclaimed at once.

Immediately, Dr. Smart was all over him. She was checking his vitals and shooing out the team. "Can you follow my finger Spencer?" Dr. Smart asked swiftly.

Slowly, Reid nodded. He followed her fingers with his eyes. "How long have I been like this?" Reid asked gradually in the weak voice.

"Approximately a day," Dr. Smart replied taking out a mini flashlight and shining it in his eyes.

A very, very small smile came on to Reid's face. "No long-term damage then?" Reid questioned.

Dr. Smart stopped what she was doing. "We'll need to run a lot of tests." Dr. Smart said shortly. "But I doubt there would be any long-term effects from the coma…"

* * *

Once Dr. Smart emerged from the room, she was bombarded by the team. "Is he going to be alright?" Garcia demanded.

"I believe so." Dr. Smart said softly before turning to walk away.

She disappeared down the hallway.

* * *

_Two Weeks Later_

"We had to buy you new clothes." Hotch told him as Reid hopped about the hospital room in crutches.

Reid picked up the bag on the bed. He examined the contents. "I have to wear these?" Reid asked looking at the large shirt and large pants.

Hotch looked slightly amused at Reid's reaction. "You have a broken leg. You need pants that are big enough to go over the cast." Hotch explained. "We didn't want to have to cut your pants."

"And the shirt?" Reid asked.

Shrugging, Hotch smiled a bit. "You have a fractured collar bone. It would be too difficult to try and get a small shirt on." Hotch replied.

Assisting Reid in getting his clothes on, Hotch never imagined that this would happen to one of his agents. Reid seemed to sense that something was off and when Hotch finished helping him, Reid looked up at him. "Hotch?" Reid asked. "What are you thinking?"

Surprised, Hotch shook his head. "I wasn't thinking…" Hotch began, but then he saw the look on Reid's face. "I was thinking about how we almost lost you. Why didn't you tell me what you wanted done?"

Reid didn't seem fazed by the question. "Gideon had the power of attorney. I never imagined that he wouldn't be around to carry out my wishes." Reid said honestly. "Gideon left so suddenly, I didn't even think about changing my power of attorney or even telling you about it."

Hotch simply nodded. "I want to thank you for not only finding me, but for being willing to carry out my wishes." Reid continued.

"I didn't want to, but Gideon talked me into it." Hotch said truthfully.

"You talked to Gideon?" Reid questioned.

"You didn't hear all of our conversations?" Hotch asked.

Reid sighed. "Bits and pieces…But back to Gideon, how is he?" Reid asked curiously.

There was a silent silence. "We didn't talk about him. We talked about you." Hotch said.

"Oh," Reid said shortly.

* * *

The team decided to stay with Reid in Sunny, Texas (although the hospital was in a larger city). They requested to stay with him and surprisingly the director of the FBI granted their request. The first place that Reid went to after being released from the hospital was to the police station. The local police still needed his statement.

When he entered the door, hobbling, Hotch by his side, the team raced towards him. "Hey Reid!" Morgan said beaming. "How are you?"

"Do you have any idea how hard walking with crutches is?" Reid grumbled with a smile.

JJ laughed, as did Garcia. "It's good to see you around sweetie pie!" Garcia said happily.

The mood was happy and playful, but something caught Reid's eye. It was the computer of a police officer. On it was a video of Reid. "What's he doing?" Reid questioned.

Everyone looked over. "He's transcribing the tapes." Rossi said quietly. "They're evidence."

Reid nodded. He knew they needed the tapes as evidence, but he hated how someone was watching him at his weakest time. "Will they be used in court?" Reid continued.

"Yes," Emily said shortly. "Julia thought she was so smart, but she was actually just making it much easier to convict her."

Out of the corner of his eye, Reid saw an interrogation room…with Julia sitting inside talking to, what appeared to be, another FBI agent from another field office. Before anyone could stop him, Reid hobbled over to the room.


	22. Chapter 22

A/N- This is the last chapter. I would like to thank all of you for reading it and for reviewing. Your comments were wonderful and have helped me a lot. Thanks! And now for the final chapter…

Chapter 22

Reid heard the protests of his teammates, but he entered anyway. As soon as the door opened, Julia looked up. Her eyes were filled with sadness. She looked much calmer than when Reid had seen her last. "Dr. Reid," Julia stated.

The FBI agent, unsure of what to do, left the interrogation room with Reid, Morgan, Hotch, JJ, Garcia, Emily and Rossi in it. Reid moved to the opposite end of the table and sat down. "You look better." Reid commented.

A smile came on Julia's face. "I wish I could say the same to you." Julia said in a light tone.

"Are you on medication?" Reid asked.

Looking down at her cuffed hands, Julia sighed. "Yeah…I suffered a psychotic episode and now I'm on anti-psychotic medicine." Julia explained. "It helps."

"Do you take it everyday?" Reid continued.

Nodding, Julia looked up at him. "I'm still in a little shock of what I did. I know what happened and I've seen the tapes." Julia said quietly. "I never want that to happen again."

Studying her, Reid couldn't help but realize that he did feel some empathy towards her. Gideon was right. "I don't think you were born evil and I don't think you are evil." Reid said gently. "What happened to you was horrible and I think that anyone under those circumstances would have snapped…"

"What happened to me in the past doesn't excuse my present actions." Julia said firmly.

"No, I never said it did." Reid said carefully. "But it does explain why you did what you did. You have a mental illness and that can be treated."

Tears were coming up to Julia's eyes. "I wish I had never done any of that! I wish I could just go back to college and never sign up for that class!" Julia said sobbing. "I'm so sorry!"

Reaching out, Reid touched Julia's cold hands. "Julia, what class did we take together?" Reid asked softly.

"Um… 'Early Literature' with Professor Jubbs." Julia said sniffling.

A small smile came on Reid's face. "When he got talking about Shakespeare, he got all excited, didn't he?" Reid asked, beginning to remember. "He spat all over the place when talking about 'Romeo and Juliet'."

Julia smiled a bit too. "Yeah…" Julia said remembering. "I didn't imagine my life would turn out like this. I wanted to be a writer."

"You still can be." Reid said. "It's not too late."

Her face darkened a bit. "It is too late Dr. Reid." Julia said quietly. "I'll be going to trial soon."

Confused, Reid didn't understand what Julia was talking about. "Yes, but surely your defense attorney is going to advise you to plead not guilty by reason of mental defect or illness." Reid said. "You'll be able to go to a mental health care facility to deal with this illness."

"I'm not going to plead not guilty by reason of mental defect or illness." Julia stated very calmly.

Shock and surprise took over Reid's mind. He couldn't believe what she was saying. "Julia, if you don't plead…" Reid said slowly. "Texas has the death penalty."

Julia nodded. "I know." Julia said. "What I did to not only you but to Peter, Edmund, and to the other people I've killed…If that's not punishable by death, nothing is."

"You couldn't help it!" Reid said. "You were suffering a mental breakdown. Even I could tell that!"

Julia looked very sad. "Dr. Reid, listen to me. I deserve to die for what I did." Julia said calmly. "You should not have suffered the way you did. I could have killed you! In fact, I thought I did kill you."

"But you didn't!" Reid protested. "I'm here and you're here."

Cocking her head to the side, Julia looked at Reid carefully. "You don't believe in the death penalty?" Julia questioned.

For a moment, Reid thought about her question. "I do. Some people are completely evil and the things they have done are horrible, but while what you have done is horrible, you had no control over it." Reid said firmly.

"A person should be allowed to decide if they are to live or to die." Julia stated. "If they have no dignity left, they should have the dignity to die. I have nothing left. Please, just let me die."

"I can't." Reid said. "I won't let you do this."

A little laugh came from Julia. "Dr. Reid, I know that if you had the choice to live or die after a lifetime of pain, you would probably choose to die. In fact, I heard that your power of attorney has the power to take you off life support. You don't want to live that way. Neither do I." Julia said putting it in perspective.

Shaking his head, Reid disagreed with her on so many levels. "It's not the same thing." Reid said.

"It's not? Dr. Reid, let me remind you of what I have done! I tortured you for eight days until you were nearly dead. I killed several others. I manipulated Edmund and Peter and numerous others. I've been abused, shot…My mother died at the hands of my father." Julia said quickly. "I want to die."

She reminded him so much of that woman Gideon had talked to in that prison. She was innocent, but she wanted to spare her son. Gideon decided to let her die…an innocent woman because she wanted to. "I don't understand your thinking, but I respect your decision." Reid said cautiously. "I don't agree with your decision, but it is your choice."

Julia nodded. "Thank you Dr. Reid. You are the kindest person I have ever met and I am so sorry for the pain I caused you." Julia said honestly. "If you could do one last thing for me…"

"What?" Reid asked curiously.

It took a minute for Julia to gather her emotions. "Forget about me. Forget about what happened." Julia said. "You have friends that love you and you have a mother that cares about you…"

"Who abandoned you?" Reid asked suddenly, interrupting Julia.

The question shocked Julia. "Why…" Julia began.

"You were always talking about abandonment. You were reminding me of everyone who had abandoned me to create a feeling of hopelessness. I was just wondering who did that to you." Reid said logically.

Biting her lip, Julia looked into his eyes. "Everyone abandoned me." Julia said.

Reid shook his head. "Not everyone abandoned you." Reid said factually. "I'm still here and I'm going to be here until the end of whatever happens."

"I can't ask you to do that." Julia said. "Dr. Reid, go home. Live your life. Be happy. Forget this…leave it behind. 'The past is the past and the future is a sea of endless possibilities'."

Another smile came on Reid's face. "A famous quote from Professor Jubbs…" Reid said. "Julia, I won't forget this. This whole ordeal has taught me something very important. I have friends who are willing to do anything for me."

"Good luck Dr. Reid." Julia whispered. "Goodbye."

Reid felt horribly sad. He couldn't believe what Julia was doing, but now he understood what Gideon felt like when Sarah-Jean asked to die to save her son, Riley. "Goodbye Julia," Reid said before picking up his crutches and hobbling out of the room.

* * *

_Quantico, Virginia_

_Three Months Later _

Morgan was rushing towards Hotch's office. "Reports?" Emily asked without even looking up.

Grinning, Morgan nodded. "Yeah, I know that they were due yesterday, but…" Morgan said quickly.

"Late again." Reid muttered sitting at his desk.

Just then, Hotch came out from his office. He walked past Morgan, Emily and JJ. By now, they sensed something was wrong. He went directly to Reid's desk. "The verdict came back." Hotch said softly.

Awaiting, Reid nodded. "And?" Reid questioned.

"Not guilty by reason of mental defect or illness." Hotch stated. "Apparently the jury had discovered Julia's mental illness and decided to place her in a mental institution."

"Good," Reid said calmly. "Maybe now she can get the help she needs,"

Hotch looked at him sadly. Morgan, Emily and JJ stood nearby. "Reid, she killed herself after hearing the verdict." Hotch said quietly.

Silence while everyone thought about that for a moment… "Did she leave a note?" Reid questioned.

Hotch nodded and handed him an e-mail which contained a picture of the note. It simply read in Julia's handwriting:

"_Death is not the greatest of evils; it is worse to want to die, and not be able to__."_

_-__Sophocles_

**The End**

Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds.

A/N- I totally **DO NOT** agree with Julia nor do I agree with the quote at the end. **Life is too precious.** I am **NOT** condoning suicide at all and I am **NOT** saying that people should commit suicide. But, this is what I felt Julia would have done and what she probably would have written.

If you liked this story, please check out my other stories!

_Kylie Anderson _


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